I’ll never forget when I first met César Castellanos, pastor of the International Charismatic Mission. We shared a warm greeting, but within minutes he was sharing about the apostolic anointing over his church. Many believe that Castellanos has the spiritual gift of apostleship, and for this reason he generates a contagious vision. This vision, called by many the “Groups of Twelve” model (G-12), takes leadership development and cell multiplication to new levels.
Castellanos’ strategy is to convert everyone who enters his church into a cell leader. He preaches this truth and gives altar calls for new leadership. The church has grown exponentially for the last decade. Recently the church was forced to rent an indoor stadium in Bogota, Colombia, which sits 18,000. With three Sunday morning services, the church continues to grow unabated.
G-12 as a Multiplication Model
There is a lot of confusion floating around about the G-12 model. What exactly is it? I see it as a multiplication model--a call to rapid and continuous multiplication of cell groups. This is exactly how Luis Salas, a pastor at ICM, explained it to me. [1] It’s helpful to compare the traditional method of cell multiplication with the G-12 form of multiplication.
Traditional Method of Multiplication
In the traditional method of cell multiplication, the existing cell group oversees the creation of a daughter cell by providing people, leadership, and a measure of personal care. A group is formed form within the mother cell and sent forth to form a daughter cell. The daughter cell becomes a separate, independent cell group and is not directly supervised by the mother cell (this is the role of supervisors, zone pastors, etc.). This is the most frequently used method of cell multiplication.
G-12 Method of Multiplication
In the G-12 model, each member of the group is asked to start his own cell--either separately or with one or two others that he has brought to the cell. When the cell member converts into a cell leader, he continues to meet with his original cell leader, either in the normal cell group or in a separate discipleship meeting.
Each Cell Leader Seeks Twelve Disciples
In the G-12 model, each cell leader seeks twelve disciples. Where does the leader look to find disciples? In his own cell group. The goal of the cell leader is to convert the cell members into active leaders of cell groups, thus becoming disciples. To accomplish this, the cell member must first attend an Encounter retreat, followed by an intensive three-month cell leadership training (which includes Bible doctrine instruction) and an additional spiritual retreat. Only after this process can the cell member become a cell leader and thus a disciple.
Learn from Those Putting the G-12 Model into Practice
To better understand a model, oftentimes it’s best to step back and see how it works somewhere else, in a different context. Pastor Rakjumar Patta of King’s Temple in Hyderabad, Central India, provides an excellent illustration of the Groups of Twelve model in another setting.
TABLE 1: RAJ'S TESTIMONY OF G-12 MODEL
(as summarized by Neville Chamberlain) [2]
Raj began by sharing how his church of 150 or so had been trying cells the “traditional” cell church way for a couple of years, but without success. The 15 groups they had at one stage had dwindled to only two by the middle of this year. No one wanted to become cell leaders. Raj was getting desperate for help.
In the last 3 months since putting this plan into action they have experienced an amazing mini-revival in their church. About 130 people have come to the Lord, with 70 baptized, 28 cell groups formed to date, almost definitely expected to multiply to 49 groups by the end of December! There is a contagious new spirit of excitement and expectancy in the church. This atmosphere is probably as much a key to growth as are the factors described below.
So what are they doing that has made such a difference? Firstly, there is a new focus in the church: everyone is told that they will eventually be leading a group, that everyone will reach this goal at his/her own speed, and that the church is committed to helping them get there. Instead of looking for one Intern in a group to be trained to lead the next group, each cell leader sees all group members as potential leaders. This different mind-set affects the leader’s commitment to his/her cell members.
Secondly, each cell leader is trusting God to eventually have 12 members in his/her group, all leading their own groups. At first, only 2-3 of the group may be ready to lead groups. These 2-3 will be given some of the other members of the group with which to start their own groups, thus creating a vacuum in the original group. This vacuum, created afresh each time members peel off, is constantly being filled through evangelism.
The leaders of each of these new groups continue to attend the first group, while repeating the same process with their own groups. Eventually, so the theory goes, the group will consist only of leaders, a process which may take 2-3 years. During this time 40-50 people may have passed through the original group, as it multiplies not once but 12 times. The ultimate aim for each person is to eventually have 144 leaders under his/her care: 12 groups of 12.
Raj and the church in India dared to view every member of the congregation as a potential leader. Bethany World Prayer Center has also capitalized on this idea. BWPC learned these facts in a new way from ICM in Bogota that:
Every new person is a potential leader.
Start your leadership discipleship track from day one.
Be willing to equip potential leaders immediately. Paul didn't take long period of time to equip leadership.
Grasping the Big Picture
While studying the G-12 model, it helped me to compare it with the traditional cell structure:
TABLE 2: COMPARISION OF G-12 MODEL TRADITIONAL CELL MODEL
| FOUNDATIONAL PRINCIPLES | TRADITIONAL CELL MODEL | ICM |
| CELL LEADER CARE | Cell Leaders are cared for by district pastors, zone pastors, and supervisors. | Leaders are cared for by leaders of twelve-from the lower levels all the way up to the twelve disciples of Pastor Castellanos. |
| DIVISION OF CELL NETWORKS | Cell groups are divided into geographical areas under district pastors, zone leaders, and section leaders. | Cell groups are primarily divided by ministerial departments under which each leader has his or her twelve disciples. |
| JETHRO SYSTEM
| Top leadership is raised up to pastor cell leaders under them. There are normally cell leaders, section leaders, zone pastors, and district pastors. | Every leader has twelve under his or her care—from the head pastor to individual cell leaders. The leader meets weekly with his or her twelve. |
| EVANGELISM | Evangelism is more of a group activity. | Evangelism is more individual. The leader seeks to gather his own group. |
| MULTIPLICATION | Mother-daughter cell multiplication is the norm. The cell gives birth to a daughter cell which is cared for by the higher level leadership | Each member seeks to establish (plant) his or her own cell while maintaining relationships with the original cell leader |
| LEADERSHIP TRAINING | Potential leaders are trained within the cell and through seminars before beginning cell leadership. | Potential leaders are trained in ongoing training classes that take place within the various homogenous ministerial departments. |
| CENTRAL PLANNING | Cell group planning takes place on a centralized level in district offices. | Cell group planning is primarily handled through the different departments. |
Applying G-12 Principles
As you read about Bogota and the G-12 model, you’ll do well to remember the church growth axiom: “Don’t follow methods; extract the underlying principles from the methods and apply them to your situation.” What are some key principles behind this model. I’ve identified five:
1. Every person is a potential leader.
2. Multiplication of cell groups is the goal of cell ministry.
3. Leadership development (discipleship) must be given chief priority.
4. Every leader should aspire to become a supervisor (discipler) and meet with the new leaders (disciples) that have started new groups on a regular basis.
5. Leadership training should be streamlined and accelerated. [3]
At the Republic Church in Quito, Ecuador, we haven’t fully adopted the G-12 structure. We do, however, use many of the principles. Take, for example, the role of supervisor. For years we appointed supervisors over cell groups. After all, most cell churches did the same thing. Not anymore. Now we give every cell leader the “green light” to become a supervisor. “Each of you is a supervisor,” we tell them. “All you have to do is multiply your group, and you will supervise the new group under your care.” One of my old, trusted supervisors from the previous system was suddenly on the same playing field as every other cell leader. This made him work harder. He now had to prove his giftedness on an ongoing basis.
My advice is to thoroughly study the G-12 Model and then apply those principles that work for you.
[1] Luis Salas is a pastor at ICM who multiplied 250 cells in 16 months using the G-12 approach.
[2] Neville Chamberlain, “Cell Church Missions Network Roundup #14.” November 21, 1997. E-mail received from Ralph Neighbour on November 22, 1997.
[3] G-12 leadership as exemplified at ICM and BWPC (Bethany World Prayer Center) uses retreats departmental (zone) training.
ANOTHER PERSPECTIVE ON COACHING
The home schooling movement is growing and expanding year after year. In the light of the Columbine massacre, many more are now considering it. One key advantage of home schooling is the vested interest that parents have in their children. Home schooling parents, are motivated to educate their children, simply because they belong to them. The idea of “vested interest” is the driving force behind a new form of coaching taking place in the cell church today.
This new concept of coaching opens the door for every cell leader to be a coach. Since cell leaders have a vested interest in the daughter cell leaders they’ve developed, cell leaders provide natural coaching and supervision. Parent cell leaders do what it takes to assure the success of their own daughter cell (s) due to personal investment and interest.
As pastors, we know that cell leaders need ministry if they’re going to continue to minister. All effective cell churches provide a middle-management system to care for those cell leaders on the front lines of ministry. Yet, if you’re like most pastors, you’ve probably struggled to find middle management coaches that excel in caring and supervising cell leaders.
An excellent “grass-roots” way to provide middle management care is to ask each parent cell leader to “coach” their own daughter cell leaders. The cell leader has personally cared for the cell member throughout the life of the cell. When that cell member launches his or her own group, the parent cell leader is emotionally involved and cares most for the success of the new group.
I didn’t have to tell Rene Naranjo, for example, to visit the Wednesday cell group in the home of Santiago and Mabis. René felt like a parent who was personally obligated to see his daughter cell leader succeed. Santiago and Mabis were long-time members of René’s cell group, so when they started their own cell group on Wednesday night, the natural relationship between parent and child continued. We on the pastoral staff simply confirmed the relationship and made sure that the supervision took place.
We’ve discovered that this new style of coaching works because of:
1. The vested interest that the parent cell leader has in the daughter cell leader and in the daughter cell
2. The already established relationship that has been formed between parent cell leader and daughter cell leader.
We now say to our cell leaders: “Each of you is a potential coach.” “All you have to do is multiply your group, and you will supervise (coach) the new group under your care.”
Vinicio, my old, trusted supervisors from the previous system was suddenly on the same playing field as every other cell leader. He had to give birth to those who he coached. Vinicio is still a coach under my care. But now, Vinicio coaches those groups that he has started, rather those groups that he was appointed over. Now Vinicio serves with new vigor, because he took part in giving birth to those new cells. Those under him now feel more of an obligation to their coach, since he took part in their leadership from the beginning. He guided them through the equipping track.
You as the pastor must continue to supervise, guide, and train your “cell leader coaches” in the management structure. More than anything, you must help your current cell leaders make this paradigm shift. And as remember that change takes time.
Cell leaders continue to lead their own cell group while coaching others. At our church we encourage everyone to lead an open cell group—from the senior pastor down. I lead an open cell group on Thursday night. There is a great danger in losing touch with the life of the cell in the hierarchical care structure.
You need to decide when a “cell leader coach” can cease to lead an open cell group. Some churches say that when a coach has raised-up twelve leaders, he or she can cease to lead a cell group. You might place that number at five. If at all possible, however, my advice is that coaches lead an open cell group. There’s an added authority with saying to those under your care, “This has helped me in my cell group. I think it will help you.”
At our church, we do not allow one coach to care for more than twelve cell leaders. You might decide that five is more suitable to your needs. Whether that number is twelve, seven, or five, a specific number helps each leader to envision multiplying his or her cell more than once. From a pragmatic perspective, a specific number gives each cell leader a goal to pursue. With such a goal, the leader won’t rest content with only one or two. Twelve is a useful number from the perspective of group dynamics but you might decide to reduce the number to five or ten.
Conclusion
Celyce and I will probably home school our children someday. The idea appeals to us because we know that we have a vested interest in our own children. Our three daughters mean everything to us. Parent cell leaders also have a vested interest in their daughter cell leaders. Consider allowing those natural relationships to grow and continue as you convert your current cell leaders into active coaches.
A Week in the Life of a Heathy Cell Leader
“How could this man multiply his cell group six times? He lacks the enthusiasm and bubbly excitement so necessary for small group multiplication.” Then in my interview, Carl Everett, the man they call Mr. Multiplication, confirmed my suspicion and told me that he was a very shy person. “Then how did you multiply your group so many times?” I inquired. “Prayer, prayer, and prayer,” he asserted.
Carl and his wife, Gaynel, lead a cell at Bethany World Prayer Center in Louisiana. Their cell preparation includes fasting and prayer the day of the cell meeting. Before the meeting, they anoint the food, the sidewalks, the yard, every room in the house, even each seat to be used that night. They wait until after the meeting (during the refreshment time) to eat. The Everetts’ example is not unusual at Bethany.
Is a day of fasting and prayer the only reason why some cell leaders succeed at evangelizing and giving birth to new groups while others don’t? I visited eight prominent cell churches in search of the answer. More than 700 cell leaders completed my 29-question survey that explored such areas as the cell leader’s training, social status, devotions, education, preparation of material, age, spiritual gifts, and gender. This statistical analysis helped me to discover common patterns across diverse cultures.
I discovered, for example, that healthy cell leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and the anointing for successful cell leadership doesn’t reside with a mysterious few.] Some believe that healthy cell leaders are specially gifted, more educated, and own more vibrant personalities than other leaders. Not so. The educated and uneducated, married and single, shy and outgoing, those gifted as teachers and those gifted as evangelists, equally multiply their small groups.
However, several characteristics do distinguish successful cell leaders. These differentiating factors relate to what a person does as a part of his or her typical weekly lifestyle. It has nothing to do with personality, background or how long one has been a Christian. Instead healthy cell leaders have incorporated certain practices into their lifestyle. You can join them.
DEVOTIONAL LIFE
I couldn’t believe that the President of the United States wanted to meet with me! You better believe that I prepared for that special meeting. I wanted to honor him. I arrived at the White House hours early just to be ready. How awesome to be in the presence of the President of the U.S.!
This scenario illustrates the excitement and anticipation of an important meeting. I never met with the President, but someone far greater desires to meet and talk with me and you every day—Jesus Christ. He’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
The life of a healthy cell leader begins and ends with God. Only God can give success. My survey of cell leaders clearly showed that time spent with God is the single most important principle behind successful cell leadership. A cell leader filled with the power and love of Jesus Christ knows how to minister to a hurting member of the group, how to deal with the constant talker, and how to wait for a reply to a question.
Why, then, don’t cell leaders properly prioritize this time? There are at least three hindrances. First and foremost is drowsiness. We’ve all battled with sleepiness during personal devotions. I’ll never forget David Cho’s advice about early morning devotions: “Get out of bed!” In bed, deep prayer can too easily become deep sleep. Instead, get up, wash your face, drink some coffee, or go for a jog if necessary. Get the blood flowing.
Another impediment is our mind. How often I have approached the throne of God only to battle my thoughts—what that person thought of my comments last night, or when I should wash my car. “Your thoughts, Lord, not mine” is the battle of devotions. Ask Him to take over your thoughts in the listening room.
Lack of time is another problem. Leave the fast-food mentality at McDonald’s. In order to drink deeply from the Divine, you must spend time in deep meditation. As the Psalmist says, deep calls to deep (Psalm 42:7). Don’t leave your devotional time without touching God, feeling the glow of His glory. This demands extended periods before god’s throne. One or two short visits won’t suffice.
FAMILY LIFE
Everything smelled of success. The cells were multiplying. The church was growing and experiencing salvation and healing. But as staff members talked, it became evident that many cell leaders were suffering in their personal lives. They were busy every night of the week. One pastor asked, “Isn’t it a contradiction to succeed in cell ministry but fail with our families?” Of course it is. In the life of a healthy cell leader, family is paramount. God desires to maximize our effectiveness as cell leaders, but not at the expense of our family life.
Cell ministry is a family affair and is meant to draw your family closer together. It’s best to include your family in cell ministry. For example, your teenager can direct the children’s cell or lead worship. Your child can lead the ice breaker. My wife and I minister together as a team in our cell. She plans the icebreaker and prepares the refreshments. I prepare the worship and the lesson. When she’s leading the group, I care for our 2-year-old. Likewise, she covers for me when I’m ministering.
After the cell meeting, we analyze together what happened. “Joel, you should have been more gracious with Inez. I know she talked too much, but you could have handled it better,” Celyce lovingly counseled. “That’s not what I wanted to hear,” I thought. But it’s what I needed to hear. Our intimacy grows as we pastor our group together and openly discuss the details of each meeting, sharing our observations and learning together. This honest feedback also helps us mature as cell leaders.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
George Whitefield and John Wesley were contemporaries in seventeenth-century England. Both dedicated themselves to God’s work in the same small group (Holy Club) at Oxford University. Both were excellent in open-air preaching. Both witnessed thousands of conversions through their ministries. Yet John Wesley left behind a 100,000-member church, while George Whitefield could point to little tangible fruit toward the end of his ministry. Why? Wesley dedicated himself to training and releasing small-group leaders, while Whitefield was too busy preaching and doing the work of the ministry.
Yes, it’s exciting to lead a cell group. But what will your group look like when you leave it in the hands of your current intern? Will it continue to meet, or will it fold? Will you look back at your leadership with joy, as you recall the cell groups that you left behind, or will you wonder how so much effort could result in so little?
We all know about the tyranny of the urgent. The cell lesson needs fine-tuning, someone must bring the refreshments, John needs a ride, and on and on the list goes. Cell leaders can be overwhelmed with worship choruses, ice-breakers, calls, visits, etc. Everything demands immediate attention. Or does it? In the midst of a fast-paced life, are there priorities? Can a cell leader confidently say, “This one thing I do”?
Yes. Successful cell leaders look beyond the urgency of the present to the importance of future daughter cells. Because of that, they spend priority time training new leaders. This passion to raise up new leadership drives successful cell leaders to spend quality time with potential leadership — important time. As a result, common cell members become new visionary leaders.
Leadership success in the cell church is clear: How many leaders have been spotted, trained, and deployed? Apprenticing future leaders is a Biblical way of life. Moses tutored Joshua, and Elijah trained Elisha. The Apostles were recruited and trained by Jesus. Barnabas discipled Paul, who in turn developed Timothy. The Lord has brought future leaders to your group. Are you developing them?
INVITING NEW PEOPLE
Of course, the way to add future leaders to your group is to invite people to your cell—and keep inviting. Most cell leaders have heard the well-intentioned promises of those who failed to follow through. “Steve promised to come.” “I planned desert for four people who didn’t show.” Have you heard these comments before? Have you made them yourself? Welcome to cell leadership.
Experienced group leaders understand that you have to personally invite 25 people for 15 to say they will attend. Of those 15, eight to ten actually will show up. Of those, only five to seven will attend regularly after a month or so. Don’t let this discourage you. Successful cell leaders don’t depend on one or two verbal commitments. They continually invite new people.
One group at Bethany World Prayer Center faithfully met each week but experienced little growth. One member previously attended a group that had multiplied and, after analyzing both groups, said, “In the other cell group, we received a constant flow of visitors.” At the same time, another cell was celebrating the birth of a new group. Its cell leader testified that the group went through a dry, difficult period. With only six people, the group did all of the “right things” to win non-Christians and receive visitors, but few visited and fewer stayed. Yet they kept on trying, praying, and inviting until things finally gelled. Several others began to attend and invited their friends. The mix came together.
Cell leader, you personally must be vigilant about inviting new people. The right mix for your group is right around the corner. New blood in the cell brings new life. Newcomers invigorate a group with their fresh insight. Keep on inviting. Don’t give up.
VISITATION
Luis Salas has a large, well-worn map hanging in the entryway of his Bogota apartment. This “war map” is overflowing with names of potential cell members. “I’m always dreaming and praying about new people to invite to my cell groups,” he said. “All day long I think about them and eventually make personal contact with them.”
In just 18 months, Luis multiplied his original cell to 250 cells because he goes after potential members and then follows up with them after they visit. Some of them become cell members and then cell leaders.
If you want your cell to grow and multiply, one vital key to effective cell evangelism is immediate contact of newcomers. When someone new attends your group, plan an immediate visit, send a card, and/or pick up the telephone and call. The saying is true: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
NATURAL EVANGELISM
New members sense a freedom to share deeply in the warm atmosphere of an accepting, loving cell group. the “cell atmosphere” is the most effective way to expose non-Christians to the truth of the gospel.
During one cell meeting, leader René Naranjo began a lesson on how Jesus cleared out the temple (John 2). Discussion flowed from the Jewish temple, to our own bodies as God’s temple, to home cells as God’s temple today. René guided the discussion when necessary, but the conversation flowed naturally and orderly. One couple said little, but was asked to share their thoughts. This couple lacked a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, yet no one pounced on them with the Good News. They felt liberty to express themselves. René closed the cell by asking those who wanted to receive Jesus Christ to pray.
In the last six months, René Naranjo has planted three daughter cells. He personally supervises these new cells and disciples the leaders. In his cell group, non-Christians feel comfortable to express their opinions, as he graciously points them to the Savior.
Are you targeting non-Christians in your group and including them in the lesson? Cell evangelism is not a programmatic, canned approach. Rather, it’s a personal process of sharing Good News about forgiveness of sin and new life in Jesus. Because of the intimate, caring atmosphere of small groups, evangelism happens naturally.
A PARABLE OF THREE GARDENERS
A man had a beautiful garden that yielded rich and abundant food. His neighbor saw it and planted his own garden in the spring, but he did nothing to it: no watering, cultivating or fertilizing. In the fall, his garden was devastated, overgrown with weeds and bearing no fruit. He initially concluded that gardening does not work. After more thought, he decided that the problem was bad soil or maybe that he lacked a “green thumb.” Meanwhile, a third neighbor started a garden. Though his garden did not immediately yield as much as the first man’s, he worked hard and continued learning. As he practiced new ideas year after year, his garden reaped an increasingly abundant harvest.
The truth of this parable is obvious. I traversed the globe to discover the secrets of small-group growth, and the same principles made the difference between cell growth and stagnation in every country, culture and church. Prayer, hard work and the steady application of proven principles set apart the successful cell group leaders. The insights outlined here will work for you, if you are willing to pay the price. They are not magical principles. They require time and effort.
Successful cell leaders spend time seeking God’s face and are dependent on Him for the direction of their group. They prepare themselves first and, only afterwards, the lesson. They pray diligently for their members as well as for non-Christian contacts. But successful cell leaders do not stop with prayer. They come down from the mountaintop and interact with real people, full of problems and pain. They pastor their cell members and visit them regularly. They invite new people, visit newcomers, and evangelize naturally in their small groups. By following these principles, any cell leader can lead a group to grow and multiply. That is God’s heart and His Great Commission. How are you doing?
"All Disciples are Leaders"
Mario received Jesus Christ six years ago. Jesus radically changed his life, and gave him a hunger to win others. He began to share the good news of Jesus Christ with his buddies. John, Mario's friend from elementary school, responded to the gospel message and began attending Mario's cell group. As John attended Mario's cell group and grew in his relationship with Jesus Christ, he heard about the need for further training. John attended a spiritual retreat, took Bible-oriented classes, and eventually opened his own cell group. Throughout this entire process, John continued to attend Mario's cell group. When John started his own cell group, he officially became one of Mario's 12 disciples, thus cementing their relationship even further. Now John is looking for his own disciples.
When a Person Becomes a Disciple
Just what is a disciple? The most basic New Testament definition of a disciple is pupil or follower. Jesus chose 12 followers. At ICM (Internacional Charistmatic Mission, Bogota, Colombia), a disciple is a cell leader and a cell leader is a disciple. If you want to be a disciple and form part of the 12 of someone, you must also lead a cell group. I once asked César Fajardo (the Youth Pastor at ICM) a clarification question. "Can you call a person part of your 12 if the person has not yet opened a cell group?" César Fajardo stated, "It's clear that if someone isn't leading a cell group, he or she isn't a leader of anything and the G-12 groups are groups of leaders." [1]
Let me emphasize this last phrase: G-12 groups are groups of leaders. ICM is a cell church, so at ICM a disciple is a cell leader and a cell leader is a disciple. You might be a "disciple in process" while you're taking the training to become a cell leader. You're not, however, part of the "12" of someone until you're actually leading a cell group. César Castellanos says: ". . . all of the 12 must be there because of merit. They have to give birth to new cells, thus bearing fruit." [2] César Castellanos gives thisinstruction:
You only choose your 12 after the person has borne fruit [opened a cell group]. If you choose too quickly [before opening a cell group] based on friendship or sympathy, it might turn out that the person never opens a cell, and thus you will never achieve your objective. The person who does not produce is hindering the conversion of thousands of people. [3]
Discipleship at ICM is not a static, ingrown activity. Since a disciple must lead a cell group, the concept of 12 is a method to multiply groups more rapidly. The goal is that each person in the church leads a cell group in order to be a true disciple. If the person refuses to lead a cell group, it's best to terminate the discipleship relationship. [4]
ICM has only two titles: discipler (leader of 12) and disciple (cell leader). They have eliminated cell church titles like district pastor, zone pastor and zone supervisor or section leader. The G-12 system continues to flow to the lowest levels, and everyone disciples through G-12 groups as well as evangelizing through open cell groups.
Everyone a Potential Leader and Supervisor
The original cell structure (often called the 5x5 system), developed by David Yonggi Cho of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, teaches that the church must appoint a supervisor to care for each cluster of five cell groups. In the 5x5 cell system, John could not have supervised (discipled) new cell leaders until he was asked to become a supervisor by a higher-level leader (e.g., a zone pastor). The title "supervisor" is an appointed position. The G-12 model, in contrast, expects John like everyone else to become a supervisor (although ICM calls it a discipler). At ICM, it's not sufficient for John to simply lead a cell group. Rather, he must raise-up new cell leaders from his group and then supervise them through his own G-12 group.
In this system, every person is a potential leader and every leader is a potential supervisor. Everyone from the senior pastor to the kitchen worker is commissioned to find 12 disciples, primarily from among the new Christians.
It's amazing how many common people at ICM are actually supervising others. Willie, who drove us around in the van, had 45 cell groups under his care. He hoped to be supervising 250 cells within a year. We talked to a young girl who cleaned the floor, who supervised four cell groups. The phone operator for ICM had 80 cell groups under her care. Another security guard had already formed his G-12 group and was now seeking to form his group of 144. Castellanos says:
We even have humble people who are handling large numbers of cells. Even the cleaning ladies have cell groups. Everyone has cells. Some have two, others seven, others 50, others many, many more. In order to become a part-time minister in our church, a person must have 250 cells. In order tobecome full-time in the church, a person must have 500. [5]
Everyone Receives Ministry in Order to Minister
Billy Graham was once asked, "If you were a pastor, what strategy would you implement?" Billy Graham replied, "I would choose 12 people and transmit my life to them. I would then send them out to do the work." [6] The idea of transmitting life and ministering to the ministers is central to the G-12 system. In the normal, program-oriented church, about 40 people have direct access to the pastor. Through the G-12 model, the care system of the pastor is passed down to each one. [7]
Everyone who is leading a cell forms part of a G-12 group. If a person has not yet opened a cell group, he or she receives care from the open cell group leader. But the badge of honor at ICM is to form part of a G-12 group. Therefore everyone desires to enter the training process in order to become a cell leader and thus form part of a G-12 group.
We all know that the ministers need ministry in order to minister more effectively. When someone asks César Castellanos for counsel, the first question that he asks the person is: "Who is your leader?" The person answers: "I'm part of the 12 of the 12 of such-and-such a person." [8] Castellanos expects the G-12 leader to offer counsel and ministry to the cell leader before looking to anyone higher. [9]
The Significance of the Number 12
"I believe the number seven would be better than 12 for my church in Juarez, Mexico," said the senior pastor. "Our houses are smaller than those of Bogota, and 12 is just too many for our context," he said to me. We batted around the idea concerning whether or not the number 12 was essential.
ICM believes strongly in the special significance of the number 12. They base this belief on that fact that God spoke clearly to pastor Castellanos in 1991 about the G-12 concept.13 Pastor Castellanos also regularly preaches on the importance of the number 12. He references the fact that God chose 12 tribes of Israel (Genesis 35:22-26; Exodus 28:21), the Hebrew calendar has 12 months, Solomon had 12 governors (1 Kings 4:7), and Jesus chose 12 disciples (Luke 6:12-15).
Luis Salas, one of the 12 of Castellanos, says to his potential leaders, "The number 12 is your key to success. From this day onwards, you will dream and pray about the number 12. The most important thing that you can do is make disciples." [10]
Material Used in the G-12 Meeting
Sometimes, Mario teaches his disciples a message passed down from César Castellanos. Until his recent move to Miami, Pastor Castellanos met with his 12 on a weekly basis. His 12 took fervent notes of the content of that meeting and passed the message down to their disciples. What was learned from the senior pastor was then passed down to the entire leadership structure through the G-12 system. [11]
It's my observation, however, that the content of most G-12 meetings at ICM depend on the G-12 leader and what he or she receives directly from the Lord. [12] Mario, for example, begins his G-12 meeting asking each disciple to share his personal needs. "I'm struggling in my marriage," says John. "Please pray for me." Those present lay hands on John, praying that Jesus would heal his marriage.
After praying for each disciple, Mario says, "Now I'd like each of you to share what happened in your cell group and G-12 group during the past week." This has been a tough week for John since only three people attended his cell group and only one disciple attended his G-12 group meeting. "Keep on pressing on, John," exhorts Mario. "I've been there. Make sure you call your disciples this week and keep on inviting new people to your cell group," Mario says.
Then Mario reminds his disciples about the men's evangelistic rally in three months. "This is going to be a huge event. We've rented the indoor stadium, and we all need to be praying. Remember also that in one month we're going to invite our wives and families to meet with us at the retreat center." Normally Mario edifies his leaders through a passage from God's Word, and he tries to limit his G-12 meeting to one hour.
Growing as a Disciple
John has not yet arrived at spiritual maturity. He still struggles in his marriage, for example. Yet, since completing the equipping track and becoming actively involved in the ministry, he is growing daily. He feels responsible to exemplify the life of Christ to his disciples, so he personally studies the Word and prays continually. When he has questions and doubts, he knows that he can approach Mario at any time, and that he will receive answers. At times John marvels at how completely his life has changed since hearing Mario's testimony six years ago. He's so thankful to be Mario's disciple, but even more important to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
ON EQUIPPING TRACKS
I was deeply disappointed when we decided to change our equipping track at the Republic Church. “Why are we changing now when we haven’t given our new training track a chance to succeed?” I thought to myself. “ I had labored long and hard to help transform our traditional Bible Academy into a cell equipping track that resembled the one created by Ralph Neighbour. We trained key leaders to become sponsors (mentors), prepared a plan to lead a new convert to cell leadership, and even tested our training in a retreat setting. Suddenly we were changing midstream. Those were agonizing months for me, as I watched my “creation” torn apart.
What caused the change? A trip by our pastoral team to the International Charismatic Mission in Bogota, Colombia. After returning my senior pastor, Porfirio Ludeña, announced a new training track that would conform to that of ICM.
Now, I have the perspective of hindsight. The pain of those earlier months are gone. I can say with confidence that my pastor was right-on to make the change. We haven’t slavishly followed ICM’s training model, but rather we’ve adjusted it to our particular needs. We have a new flexibility in our training model that is right for us, as well as being more culturally relevant.
Before I get into the specifics of our actual training track, I will list the principles & patterns from the best cell church training tracks that I’ve observed around the world. Afterwards, I’ll explain and the critique our own training track at the Republic Church in light of the following principles.
PRINCIPLES FROM CELL CHURCH EQUIPPING TRACKS WORLD-WIDE
PRINCIPLE #1: KEEP THE TRAINING TRACK SIMPLE
Don’t over complicate your cell leadership-training track. I like to recommend only using four manuals or having only four steps. Most cell church equipping tracks prepare their leaders in the following four areas:
þ Basic doctrine
þ Inner-life Development
þ Personal evangelism
þ Leadership training
The first area or step is basic Bible doctrine. I think it’s important to include basic teaching about God, sin, the person of Jesus Christ, salvation, the Holy Spirit, and the church. Yet, each church must decide if “basic doctrine” step (embodied in a manual) includes six, nine, or fourteen lessons. The number of lessons in the first manual will depend on how much Bible doctrine your church deems is necessary for the new believer.
The second area, Inner-life development, focuses on the devotional life. The goal is to help the new believers feed themselves. The goal of this step is summed up in the saying, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” The first step provides an understanding of basic Bible teaching while the second step helps the new believer nourish himself from God’s Word. The teaching of this stage should also deal with confession of sin, forgiveness, and steps to freedom from past satanic bondages. Christ wants to heal every sin and scar of the past, and the manual for this step should cover these issues. New believers should learn that they have direct access to the throne of God because of the blood of Jesus.
The third area, Personal Evangelism, teaches the person how to share his or her faith (e.g., four spiritual laws, Romans Road, E.E. outline, etc.). Each believer needs to learn how to lead someone else to Jesus Christ. This stage teaches the plan of salvation in a systematic, step-by-step process. Beyond learning the content of the gospel presentation, the person must also learn how to develop friendships with non-Christians (i.e., reaching their close contacts-oikos). The effectiveness of small group evangelism is also highlighted and teaching is given on how the cell functions like a team to evangelize non-Christians as well as providing the ideal atmosphere for non-believers.
The final area covers how to lead a cell group. The manual for this stage should cover the basics of cell ministry, small group dynamics (e.g., how to listen well, transparent sharing, etc.), how to lead a cell group, and characteristics of godly leaders. I like to teach this manual in a home setting to provide a small group feeling as well as to give the group opportunity to practice small group dynamics. This manual should include teaching about the ideal order of a cell meeting (Welcome time, Worship time, Word time, and Works time).
PRINCIPLE #2: PROVIDE ACTION STEPS WITH THE TRAINING
Make sure that your training is practical, and that you have an action step for each step of your training. I’ve included four basic action steps that could be included in a four-step equipping track It’s important to action step for each part of the training. I’ve included four basic action steps that could be included in a four-step equipping track.
þ First step: Basic doctrine
Include the action step of baptism in water
þ Second Step: Inner Development
Include the action step of having a regular devotional life
þ Personal evangelism
Include the action step of witnessing and inviting a non-Christian to the cell group
þ Leadership training
Include the action step of leading a cell group
Beyond the action steps connected with each step of the equipping track, all those taking training must be actively involved in a cell group. By actively, I mean leading various activity in the cell group. If you use the four Ws (Welcome, Worship, Word, Works), the trainee must lead each W, under the direction of the cell leader. One month, for example, the trainee could lead the Welcome time, another month the Worship time, etc.
PRINCIPLE #3: PREPARE A SECOND LEVEL OF TRAINING FOR CELL LEADERS
Many cell churches fall into the trap of over-complicating the first-level of training. They try to place too many steps of training in the first level and potential cell leaders never arrive at the point of actually leading a cell group.
My advice is to divide your training into at least two levels. The first level should include the four basic areas or steps (each area is normally embodied in a manual). It’s important that the first level is not too complicated and allows to prepare cell leaders rapidly. The second level provides additional training for cell leaders (note: second level training is only for those leading a cell group).
In the second level, you could add additional doctrinal courses, a spiritual warfare course, teaching on spiritual gifts, etc. There is a lot of room for creativity and many excellent courses and materials. One cell church decided to use their denomination’s Theological Education by Extension training for this second level. Cell leaders deserve special treatment because of their important, foundational role in the church. My advice is to treat them like kings and queens. Offer them all the help and training that they need in order to be effective.
The Little Falls Christian Centre in South Africa has developed an exemplary equipping system. Their first level is clear, concise, and trains new believers rapidly to enter cell leadership. In 1999, 970 passed through this first level and were able to eliminate the cell leader shortage in their church. LFCC also has a second level of training for those who are leading a cell group. The second level provides added Biblical and spiritual nourishment for those most needing it—the front-line soldiers.
Some cell churches even offer a third and fourth level of training, all the way to pastoral ministry. Faith Community Baptist Church features an extensive higher level training program to prepare higher level leaders (i.e., zone pastors). Bethany World Prayer Center hosts a three-year Bible School on their own property. Neither church requires higher education for all cell leadership--it’s simply provided for those feel called to full-time ministry (and who have been successful in leading and multiplying their cell group).
PRINCIPLE #4: USE ONLY ONE EQUIPPING TRACK
While there should be flexibility in the training methodology (next principle), it’s important to have only one training track. After deciding on a church-wide training track (ideally both first and second levels, although the first level will probably come first), a church should require that all future leaders pass through the same training. This will assure that:
¨ All future cell leaders are Biblically and spiritually trained
¨ All are prepared to evangelize and lead a cell
¨ All are on in-line with the leadership of the church
¨ All understand the church’s vision.
To guarantee long-term success, you want to make sure every future leader has passed through the same process and has received the same training.
PRINCIPLE #5: THERE IS NO ONE METHODOLOGY FOR IMPLEMENTING YOUR TRAINING
Some believe that the only way to train new believers is one-on-one. Others disagree and train new believers in a group setting. During one seminar, I mentioned that our church most commonly trains new believers in a group setting. One wagged his head in disbelief and said, “But isn’t one-on-one discipleship in the cell group, the only true way to equip new believers.” I reminded him that even Jesus didn’t use the one-on-one discipleship format. He trained the twelve in a group.
Don’t confuse the training methodology (where or how you train people) with the training track. (e.g., retreat, one-on-one, classroom, etc.). From my study of the fastest growing cell churches around the world, I’ve noticed a great variety of methodologies for implementing the training model (e.g., one-on-one discipleship, one-on-two or three, training after the cell group, seminars, classes, retreats, or a combination of all of them).
I believe that the best place to care for new converts is in the cell. All cell churches expect new believers and new members to immediately join a cell. However, not all cell churches begin their training process within the cell (e.g., using the one-on-one method). Some ask the cell members to receive training in a group setting, retreat, etc.
PRINCIPLE #6: TRAIN EVERYONE TO BECOME A CELL LEADER
When a church concludes that every cell member is a potential cell leader, the logical step is to train each person to eventually lead a cell group. Ideally, each new believer in the church should immediately start attending a cell group and begin the equipping track. In reality, it often takes more time. However, the more that a church closes the gap between idealism and realism, the more effective it will be. We don’t pressure those who refuse to enter our training to become a cell leader, but we’re constantly promoting it (both at the cell level and at the celebration level). Those who desire to follow the vision of the church enter the training to become cell leaders.
PRINCIPLE #7: CONTINUALLY ADJUST AND IMPROVE THE TRAINING
You should be fine-tuning your equipping system continually. At our church, we’ve been in a continual search for the best system to meet our needs.
CRITIQUE OF THE REPUBLIC CHURCH EQUIPPING TRACK
At the Republic Church we use four manuals to train new believers to eventually lead a cell group. These manuals are:
¨ Fundamentals of the Faith (Verdades Básicas)
¨ Bible Panorama (Panorama de la Biblia)
¨ Cell Evangelism (Evangelismo Celular)
¨ Leadership in the Cell Church (Liderazgo en la Iglesia Celular)
A new believer is immediately folded into a cell group and then encouraged to begin the manual called “Fundamentals of the Faith.” The goal is for this same person to go through the entire training track in order to become a cell leader.
There is liberty to use our equipping track in a “one on one setting” or in a group setting (e.g., classroom, after a cell group, etc.). Those who teach our training track in a group setting are cell leaders who have the gift of teaching.
How do we measure up with the above principles at the Republic Church? I see both strengths and weaknesses.
STRENGTHS:
þ Our training track is clear and doable (four steps)
þ Our cell training is intimately connected with the cell church (e.g., our first manual talks about our cell church vision, etc.)
þ We have included “action steps” for each manual
þ We have only one equipping track
þ There is flexibility in how we teach our equipping track
a. Each network of cells has the liberty to teach the ONE equipping track in a VARIETY of ways
i. I’ve personally taught our equipping track in a one-on-one setting with a new believers.
ii. Several key cell leaders in my network of cells (with the gift of teaching) have taught one of our manuals after their cell meeting.
iii. Instead of “adult Sunday School” we teach our equipping track on Sunday morning. Therefore, I might ask several in my cell members in my network to take the equipping track on Sunday morning (which is often more convenient for them)
iv. We also offer our equipping track during the week (for example, the women of our church offer our equipping track on Wednesday).
b. I’ve had to acknowledge the fact that Latin Americans are more group oriented and they often like to learn in a group setting rather than one-on-one (yet, we don’t exclude teaching our equipping track in a one-on-one setting).
þ We ask everyone in the church to enter our training track to eventually become a cell leader
WEAKNESSES:
þ We don’t have a manual dedicated to the devotional life and dealing with past bondages. Our second manual provides more Bible training. As we adjust and improve our equipping track in the future, I’d suggest combining our first two manuals and then adding a manual on “inner development.”
þ We do not use Encounter Retreats at this time as part of the initial training for new believers (following the pattern of ICM in Bogota). We’ve fully intended to do this, but thus far, we haven’t made it a reality. This is one of our future goals. Personally, I believe that Encounter Retreats are the “wave of the future” and the most effective equipping tracks use them.
þ We have not yet implemented our second level of training for cell leaders. Right now everything is “on paper” but we’re not practicing it. This is an area in which we need to “start practicing what we’re preaching.”
CONCLUSION
Don’t follow training models! Rather extract the principles from the training models and apply them to your situation. Rather than telling you to follow the Republic Church equipping track, I’d encourage you to follow the principles from the best equipping tracks around the world. Afterwards, prepare your own model. At Quito 2000, for example, we will be selling Spanish material from three equipping tracks:
þ The Republic Church
þ Little Falls Christian Centre in South Africa
þ Touch Equipping Track (Ralph Neighbour’s equipping track).
We’ve come along way at the Republic Church, but we haven’t arrived. We still have a lot of adjusting and improving to do. We’re still learning from the best cell church models around the world. I would encourage you to do the same.
Friendship: The Simple Secret Of Coaching
"My coach never spends time with me," the hurting leader confessed . "He administrates me, directs me, and even continues to exemplify small group leadership. But what I really want is a friend. I want someone to take me out for coffee, to occasionally ‘hang out with.’"
As a researcher, I’ve spent many hours trying to discover the principles behind effective coaching. I’ve searched for secret formulas and hidden mysteries. When I finally found what I consider the KEY, I was embarrassed by its simplicity.
I felt like the famous German theologian who boiled down all his years of research into one phrase: Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.
Friendship. We often overlook this simple, yet powerful principle. I believe it’s the key to successfully coaching small group leaders.
Jesus, the ultimate coach, revealed this simple KEY in the book of John when He said to His disciples, "I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (15:15).
Jesus, entered a friendship with twelve sinful human beings, whom He mentored for three years. He ate with them, slept with them and answered all their questions.
The gospel writer, Mark, describes the calling of the twelve this way, "He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him. . . " (Mark 3:14). Jesus prioritized "being with them" over a set of rules or techniques.
My Own Experience
I learned this the hard way. I coached seven small group leaders over a period of three years. They often came to my home for skill training, goal assessment and care.
When we gathered, I hooked up my computer to my TV, used my flashy PowerPoint slides and tried to WOW them by my teaching.
As I polled them later, I discovered that some weren’t impressed by my fancy presentations and high-tech gadgetry. They left unfulfilled, wanting something more.
God began to show me a better way as I talked with other, more effective coaches. One coach, for example, who I met in Australia explained to me why his own network of small group leaders was growing so rapidly, "I’m a friend to my leaders. Those under me follow my example and they befriend the new small group leaders under their care. Through friendship, my network of cell leaders has grown larger than any other."
It finally began to dawn on me that people really don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Knowledge, skill training, problem solving, group dynamics, and other techniques can play an important role in a coach’s success. BUT, what a new small group leader really needs is someone to bear the burden, to share the journey, to serve as a sounding board.
Sharing the Journey
Does this mean the actual coaching meeting is unimportant? Does it mean that you shouldn’t faithfully rotate among groups or provide needed skill training? NO. What it does mean is that you first must win the leader through a caring friendship. Everything else will flow naturally.
The best teaching, in fact, is the natural type that occurs spontaneously. Jesus didn’t simply teach His disciples about prayer. Rather, He asked them to accompany Him to prayer meetings. He allowed His disciples to see Him praying. When the disciples finally asked Him what He was doing, He seized upon the opportunity to teach them about prayer (Lk. 11:1-4). The same is true with evangelism. Jesus evangelized people in the presence of His disciples and then instructed them afterwards. He took advantage of real life situations to carefully explain complex doctrinal issues (e.g., rich young ruler in Mt. 19:23).
Practical Suggestions
Let’s get practical. How can you, the coach, befriend those small group leaders under your care? Here are a few suggestions:
Invite the small group leader over to your home for dinner. Let him or her see your family, your dog, your life.
Send the small group leader a birthday card, a get well note, or a spontaneous "off the wall" humorous letter.
Go out for coffee with the person.
Invite the small group leader to play sports with you, or some other normal life activity.
Pray daily for the person (which will solidify your spiritual friendship).
Everyone can be a friend, although only some coaches will excel in administration. Everyone can be a friend, although only some coaches possess teaching gifts, graduate level education or a call to fulltime ministry.
You’re probably not as dense as I am. You probably knew the key was friendship all along. If not, I’d encourage you to start now to build a sincere, caring relationship with those who you’re coaching. Like me, you’ll discover how such a simple truth can have such a powerful impact on people’s lives.
"Principles of Biblical Leadership in the Cell Church"
What is the core concept in the cell church? Community? Evangelism? Church growth? Steve Irvin and I debated this idea over dinner one night in my home. We batted around a few commonly held assumptions about the main theme of the cell church. Then I sprang on Steve a growing conviction of my own heart. "I believe that the essence of the cell church is preparing leaders who are sent out to reap the harvest. The cell church is a leadership strategy," I told him.
As I’ve studied, practiced, and reflected on the cell church over the last few years, I’ve concluded that the cell church is all about developing and releasing leaders to reap the harvest. The perfect environment for leaders to begin and thrive is the cell group.
The Leader-Driven Church
Rick Warren’s best selling book The Purpose Driven Church provides important principles for the church at large. I’d like someone to write a book for the cell church called The Leadership-Driven Church. Raising-up a continual flow of healthy multiplying cell leaders is the heart of the cell church. Cells are leader breeders. Cells breed new leaders. If you catch the awesome power of raising up an army of leaders through the cell strategy, you’ll succeed.
Some cell churches do better than others in producing and sustaining the leadership flow in their churches. Some transitioning cell churches start out well, but as soon as the already prepared saints are taken, their cell church begins to sink. Such churches fail to understand how to develop and supervise new leaders. It’s a leadership strategy.
What are some of the key Biblical principles behind leadership development in the cell church?
Christ’s Choice of the Twelve
It’s surprising that Jesus did not choose key, prominent men to form part of His twelve. None of Christ’s disciples occupied important positions in the synagogue, nor did any of them belong to the Levitical priesthood. Rather, they were common laboring men, having no professional training, no academic degrees, and no source of inherited wealth. Most were raised in the poor part of the country. They were impulsive, temperamental, and easily offended. Jesus broke through the barriers that separated the clean and unclean, the obedient and sinful. He summoned the fisherman as well as the tax collector and zealot. Jesus saw hidden potential in them. He detected a teachable spirit, honesty, and a willingness to learn. They possessed a hunger for God, a sincerity to look beyond the religious hypocrisy of their day, and they were looking for someone to lead them to salvation. In calling the despised to Himself, in sitting down to a meal with publicans, in initiating the restoration of a Samaritan woman, Jesus demonstrated that even these people were welcomed into the kingdom of God.
Look at the Heart
Most of the leadership problems can be solved if you are willing to develop the lay people within your own congregation. True, this will require that you open your heart to a broader spectrum of lay people in your church.
A study of three hundred highly successful people such as Franklin Roosevelt, Helen Keller, Winston Churchill, Albert Schweitzer, Mahatma Gandhi, and Albert Einstein, revealed that one-fourth had handicaps, such as blindness, deafness, or crippled limbs. Three-fourths had either been born in poverty, come from broken homes, or from exceedingly tense or disturbed situations.
Sometimes we fail to see emerging leadership because we are looking for the wrong things. We often look for those who mesh with our personality but pass over those who follow a different drummer.
Samuel misjudged the Lord’s choice for the second king of Israel because he focused on height and stature: "Samuel saw Eliab and thought, ‘Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.’ But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart’" (1 Samuel 16:6-7).
Jesse was just as surprised that his older children were not elected. He had not even considered inviting shepherd boy David to the ceremony. But even though David was a "ruddy" young boy, ". . . the LORD said, ‘Rise and anoint him; he is the one!’" (1 Samuel 16:11-12)
God tends to use the "ruddy, young boys" that are fully committed to him. Our tendency is to hang educational nooses around budding leaders. Yet, the harvest is so plentiful and the laborers are so few that God would have us look at all leadership possibilities around us.
Characteristics of Leaders
What kind of characteristics should the perfect leader possess? Don’t worry too much if you get as many answers as those attending your group. Most authors do the same. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to find an exact definition of leadership. The study of leadership is broad and varied. The numerous definitions of leadership provide validity to this quote by Bennis and Nanus: ". . . leadership is the most studied and least understood topic of any in the social sciences. . . .Leadership is like the Abominable Snowman, whose footprints are everywhere but who is nowhere to be seen." These experts in the field of leadership go on to say:
Literally thousands of empirical investigations of leaders have been conducted in the last seventy-five years alone, but no clear and unequivocal understanding exists as to what distinguishes leaders from non-leaders, and perhaps more important, what distinguishes effective leaders from ineffective leaders and effective organizations from ineffective organizations.
If you’re contemplating future leadership, be encouraged. God uses all kinds of leaders. There is no such thing as the perfect leader. Nor is there one mold labeled leadership. God wants to use you in your uniqueness. Leadership has many personalities. Although the Bible doesn’t promote one "personality type" for great leadership, it does give us the characteristics of effective leadership. The following provides clues to Biblical leadership.
Old Testament Principles
When I do cell training, I know that I need to share the following leadership requirements because God requires them. Several of these traits can be summarized in one phrase: dependence upon God. God is looking for leaders who have the right heart attitude. The following Biblical reference actually mention what God expects of a leaders:
Exodus 18:25:
Virtuous
Delegates responsibility
Deuteronomy 17:15-20
Elected by God (v.15)
Committed believer (15)
Dependent on God (16-17)
An obedient student of the Bible (18,19)
Manifests humility (v. 20)
I Samuel 16:7
Has a heart dedicated to God
II Samuel 23:3 & Leviticus 25:43-53
Demonstrates reverence for God
Dependence on God
A godly Christian leader must desire God above all else. This quality of hungering and thirsting for God will guide all the other skills. Jesus says to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you (Mt. 6:33). The strongest disciples are those who long for the presence of God. The Holy Spirit will be hindered if the leader is spiritually indifferent. A person who is not allowing the Holy Spirit to work in his or her own life can hardly be a channel for His working in the group. The Holy Spirit is the great Leader, so we need him in our ministry to be effective. His will and glory above all else. "My food," said Christ, "is to do the will of my Father and to finish His work" (John 4:34).
Spirituality is a prerequisite for effective cell leaders. I’m not referring here to a super spirituality, which characterizes certain high-minded people. We are all aware of those who use their "spirituality" to mask deep-seated pride. Rather, I’m talking about a humble dependence on God. I’m referring to a person who truly believes "that apart from Him, we can do nothing."
Ray Prior, the president of the Borden Corporation, one of the largest business structures in America, was asked how he led such a large corporation. He answered, "Each morning when I wake up, I meet with the Lord and begin to listen to His voice. In that period of time, I ask Him to bring to my mind the needs of the key men who report directly to me. As I think about their weaknesses, I plan my day." Let’s follow the example of Ray Prior, staying in tune moment by moment with Jesus Christ.
Jesus tells us that the Father is looking for such worshipers (John 4:24). Effective leaders understand that the most important preparation for the leader before the cell meeting begins is to wait in His presence. As the leader waits in the listening room, he or she will receive direct orders from God. Lesson preparation is important, but spiritual preparation comes first. More important than time spent pouring over the cell lesson is quality time with God. I agree with Icenogle when he says, "The hope for healthy Christian small groups lies in group leaders who ‘are willing to be led’ by the Spirit . ." Cell leaders must lead the group in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Overcoming the Obstacles
Anyone studying leadership in the Old Testament is obliged to take note of the life of Nehemiah. Notice some key principles from Nehemiah’s life:
Passion for the glory of God (1:4)
Dynamic life of prayer (1:5-11)
Willingness to fulfill his own prayer (1:11; 4:8,9)
Sacrificial life (2:1-7)
Wise plans (2:4-7)
Contagious vision ( 2:17, 18 & 4:1-14)
Just life (5:1-13)
Ministry of teaching (8:9, 18)
Hatred of sin (13:25)
Nehemiah possessed God’s passion, was willing to get involved, knew where to go, how to get it done, and was able to motivate people toward the fulfillment of his goal. His leadership transformed a depressed and oppressed group of God’s people into a lightning task force, capable of accomplishing God’s purpose.
Yet, if I could pinpoint the most important trait from the life of Nehemiah, it would be the ability to overcome obstacles. Trials and tribulations piled up against Nehemiah--to the point of trouncing him. Yet, we read how he overcame them time and time again. He was so consumed by his God-given task and vision that he never allowed obstacles and difficulties to deter him.
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." Nehemiah lived in the midst of adversity but he faced it, confronted, and triumphed over it. Cell leadership can learn from his example.
Miriam Richards is the leader of a young professional’s group. As a single mother, she has many personal obstacles to overcome—long work days and endless motherly responsibilities. Yet, she doesn’t allow the very real obstacles to stop her from effective cell leadership. She sees them as a stepping-stone. "Cell leadership has done wonders for me," she told us during one leadership meeting. "Each week, I’m forced to depend upon God as I prepare. I’m dependent on Him to help me find solutions to the needs of my group." Miriam leads a solid, growing group, in which two atheists regularly attend.
I’ve noticed that some cell leaders always have an excuse. You know what pastors, "No one in my neighborhood is open to the gospel." "This cell ministry is hard, I just don’t have the time."
Ten spies came back with a report based on the reality of the situation. "There are giants in the land! There is no way we can win this war." Joshua and Caleb saw two realities: the giants and the God who made them. They came back excited for the chance to see God’s mighty power at work. "Let’s go for it. Right now. This land is full of milk and honey and we serve a big God. He’s easily able to take us into the land and bring us the victory. Let’s go."
Do you see obstacle or opportunity? Herb Miller gives this advice to leaders, "Never sidestep challenges. Grab every charging bull by the horns and slap him twice across the face. Remind him that God is in charge of you, . . ."
A cell leader will face moments of discouragement, loneliness, and pain. Conflicts often surface in a cell group due to personality differences, constant talkers, overly "spiritual ones," late arrivers, poor communication, cultural differences, etc. A cell leader might even face direct criticism from members of the group. A common assumption that many cell leaders make is to consider all conflict as "bad" and to be avoided if possible. Yet, if conflict can lead to deeper consideration of the issues at hand, and if it challenges members to look at their own behaviors, then it’s beneficial to the group.
Nehemiah overcame the obstacles, but he also had his moments of intense discouragement. Thomas Edison once remarked, "Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." Edison tried 10,000 times before he finally found the right materials for the incandescent light bulb. Every time he failed he gained valuable information about what didn’t work, bringing closer to the solution.
New Testament Principles
Several New Testament passages specifically deal with leadership characteristics. I’ve summarized these traits in the following list. Notice how these characteristics focus on godliness and servant hood.
Mark 10:42-45
Domination is the world’s leadership style
Servant hood is the leadership style of the disciple
Service through the cell ministry
Acts 6:3
A good testimony
Filled with the Spirit
Filled with wisdom
Romans 12:8
Diligence
Timothy 3:1-13 (Titus 1: 5-10)
Social qualities
Þ A pure life (3:2,3)
Þ A good reputation (3:7)
Moral qualities
Þ Husband of one wife (3:2)
Þ Not given to wine (3:3)
Mental qualities
Þ Respectable (3:2)
Þ Self-controlled (3:2)
Þ Able to teach (3:2)
Personal qualities
Þ Gentle (3:3)
Þ Hospitable (3:2)
Þ Not a lover of money (3:3)
Domestic qualities
Þ House in order (3:2,4,5)
Godly Character
D.L. Moody once commented, "Character is what you are in the dark." Most of the requirements in the New Testament involve character. Virtues such as honesty, faithfulness, and good judgment are synonymous with New Testament leadership. No amount of talent or giftedness can replace these characteristics. Bad character qualities will ultimately disqualify a person from leadership.
As a young Christian studying at college in Long Beach, California, I once tried to witness to a friend in Biology class. She politely listened and even nodded, but nothing more. One evening several months later, I was eating with friends in a nearby restaurant. To my surprise, this girl from college appeared as our waitress for the evening. We talked, ordered our food, ate, and then asked for the bill. Trying to please us (at the expense of her boss), she came back saying, "I’m not going to write on the bill all of the food that you ate." God spoke to me immediately and I said to her, "I appreciate your gesture, but we’re Christians and God wants us to pay for what we ate."
She was quite surprised and probably thought we were a bit weird, but the message was clear. Before leaving, I invited her to our church. The next Sunday she showed up at church and said to me, "When you didn’t accept my offer last week at the restaurant, then I knew that you were a Christian." This girl heard me talk about Jesus previously at college, but she had to see Jesus played out in my character before believing. My actions, as opposed to my words, made the difference in her life.
People are watching our lives. They want to make sure that our actions correspond with our words before receiving the gospel message. They want to make sure that the leader they are going to follow is credible and honest. Godly character refers to Christ’s work in our actions, attitude, and daily Christian living.
Today we face a dearth of godly character. We’re inclined to cry out with the Psalmist, "Help, LORD, for the godly are no more" (Psalm 12:1). So many gifted Christians, who minister to multitudes, fall prey to their own moral weaknesses.
The words of Paul to Timothy are pertinent for this issue of character, "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity" (1 Tim. 4:12). Paul knew that Timothy was surrounded with older critics who wanted nothing more than to see him fall. Ephesus, though one of the most prominent cities in the Roman world, was filled with idolatry, orgies, and magic. It was in Ephesus that "A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas" (Acts 19:19).
Paul’s advice to Timothy in the midst of temptation and corruption was, in effect, "silence your critics by your actions." Be an example to the believers. . . in purity. The word purity (hagnos) is always used with a moral sense. It is not limited to sins of the flesh, but covers purity in motive as well as in acts. The age-old saying rings true: "Actions speak louder than words." Cell leaders must maintain godly ethics and character at all times.
Where I’m currently ministering, people often use this saying: "In Ecuador lots of oil flows." The oil mentioned in this phrase is the oil of bribery, not petroleum. The system in Ecuador flows smoothly when it’s greased with lots of bribes.
Daniel Santana was one of my most trusted cell leaders. This man was respected as a first class architect, but more importantly as a godly Christian leader. Daniel confessed to me that by refusing to offer bribes, he lost many, many contracts as an architect. Yet, because of his refusal to mess around with sin, he maintained a pure testimony in the midst of a corrupt society. Make sure that what you are in the dark is the same person that lives in the day.
Servant Leadership
One characteristic of leadership that is unique to the New Testament is the concept of servant hood. Jesus taught His disciples to aspire to serve rather than "lord over." According to Jesus, the greatest leaders were the most diligent servants. He then uses Himself as a personal illustration: " For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mt. 10:42-45).
Jesus continually modeled this attitude with His small group to the point of washing their feet (John 13). Cell leaders must be willing to extend themselves as servants to the entire group. Steve Barker points out:
. . . a cell group requires lots of service. When a group starts, someone must decide on the who, when, where, why and how. This translates into placing phone calls, reserving rooms, arranging chairs, making coffee, offering rides, reminding people and finally, making introductions. Such nitty-gritty work is thankless but necessary. It’s the behind-the-scenes effort that often determines whether the initial small group meeting is a miserable failure or a promising beginning.
Although it’s always good to delegate, ultimately the cell leader is responsible for the activities in the group, the order of the meeting, where the group will meet, the refreshments, follow-up on the newcomers, etc. A servant heart is a necessary ingredient in effective cell ministry.
Leadership Requirements in Cell Churches Worldwide
The Bible gives clear guidelines for Christian leadership, but they are only guidelines. The specific application of Biblical leadership principles varies from church to church. How long, for example, should a person know Jesus before leading a cell group? Paul says in 1 Timothy 3:6 that a Bishop must not be ". . . a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil." But what does the word "recent" mean? The Greek the word "recent" literally means "newly–planted," but we still need more information for a precise application. Does a "recent convert" mean three weeks or three years? We also must remember that Paul was referring to the office of bishop, the highest office in the church. Is it correct to place the requirements of bishop on a cell leader today?
In the eight cell churches in my study the length of time a potential leader needs to be converted varied from three months to three years. The average length of knowing Jesus before leading a cell group was one year. It must be noted, however, that the International Charismatic Mission, which is the fastest growing cell church today, turns unbelievers into cell leaders in six months. These new believers still have fresh contact with their non-Christian oikos relationships and often become flaming evangelists.
Although the requirements varied from church to church, the core requirements of salvation, membership, water baptism, cell attendance, and completion of specific cell training applied in all the churches. The amount and content of the training, however, varied greatly from church to church.
What Will You Leave Behind?
John Wesley and George Whitefield were famous preachers. Each lived during the 18th century and belonged to the same holy club at Oxford University. Both desired to win a lost world for Jesus Christ and were eager to try new methods to do so. In fact, George Whitefield preached in the open air before John Wesley. Most believe that George Whitefield was a better preacher than Wesley. Benjamin Franklin once calculated that Whitefield could easily preach to a crowd of 30,000 people (without a microphone!) Whitefield probably even recorded more decisions than Wesley because of the huge crowds he attracted.
Yet, at the end of his life George Whitefield said this: "My brother Wesley acted wisely--the souls that were awakened under his ministry he joined in class, and thus preserved the fruits of his labor. This I neglected, and my people are a rope of sand"
Whitefield's labors died with himself, but Wesley's fruit continued to grow, increase, and multiply. Wesley organized the movement and brought it under systematic management; Whitefield hoped that those who had been "awakened" would follow through on their initiative; Wesley left nothing to chance. Wesley raised up a movement that produced leaders, while Whitefield only could produce conversions.
We need to concentrate on converting church members into dynamic cell leaders who will produce new cell leaders. We need to view our congregation with leadership eyes and then make sure that you have a training track to prepare them. Start a movement and you won’t have to preside over a monument.
Taking Daily Time to Care for Your Own Soul
One day a distraught man named John Salas nervously opened the door to my office, "I’ve tried everything," he blurted out. "I’ve been addicted to alcohol and drugs, and I’ve even tried a couple of religions. Now my wife wants to leave me. What can you do for me?"
Rarely had I witnessed such desperation in all my years of counseling. As one of the pastors at the El Batán Church in Quito, Ecuador, I had counseled many needy people, but John was different. He was clearly at the end of his rope. "I know that you’ve been sincerely seeking answers," I said, "but only Jesus Christ can fill the void in your heart." As I led him in prayer to receive Jesus Christ, the urgency in John’s voice finally ended in relief.
God took control of John that day, and he became a new creation. A radiance and joy flooded his life. Before he departed, I counseled John to spend time with God daily.
At the new believers’ class the next evening, John related to me how he had awoken early in the morning and spent time with his new friend, Jesus. John began a pattern of spending daily time alone with God that revolutionized his life and transformed him into a dynamic Christian. Over the years, as I watched John grow, I noticed the power of God in his ministry, in the renewal of his marriage and in the prosperity of his work.
John still had his share of difficulties. Past marriage problems plagued him, and moving his restaurant to a new location required a heavy financial commitment. Yet God’s blessing followed him wherever he went. God was enlarging John’s territory, and others noticed it.
I realized that the heavenly Father was rewarding John for spending time alone with Him. The words of Christ were coming true before my eyes: "But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you" (Matthew 6:6).
Years later, I had the opportunity to prove the relationship between quiet time and God’s blessing. To earn my Ph.D. degree, I polled 700 small group lay leaders in 8 countries around the world. I wanted to determine why certain small group leaders were more successful than others in growing and multiplying their groups. I was surprised to discover that a leader’s success had nothing to do with personality, social status, education or spiritual gifting. It had everything to do with time spent with God. Time spent in the quiet time consistently appeared as the most important factor in my study.
I wasn’t expecting this correlation. I thought I’d discover more natural, human reasons for success in ministry. Yet, the correlation is a logical one. During quiet time alone with the living God, we hear God’s voice and receive His wisdom. It stands to reason, then, that Spirit-filled lay leaders, moving under God’s guidance, will have an untouchable sense of direction and leadership. God grants them success.
I’ve Tried, But . . .
For many, quiet time is not an exiting adventure of knowing the living God; rather, it’s a lot like eating liver, attending a required board meeting, or taking out the trash. "I’ll do it by the sheer force of my will—nothing more." A friend of mine once said:
What has been my problem in the past is dryness ... no heartfelt time with the Lord, but instead just going through the motions. I fulfilled my quiet time out of duty ... because I thought it was the right thing to do. I wanted to get something from God. Now I want to be with Him, communicating with Him, "touching" my Father.
At one time or another we have all felt dryness when spending time with God. If you are struggling with spending regular time with God, you don’t need guilt heaped upon you. What you do need is concrete solutions to making your quiet time fresh.
Perhaps someone has tried to tell you that you’re not really a Christian unless you have a quiet time. If so, rather than being a delight, spending time with God became a burden.
Or maybe you’re just not convinced that a daily quiet time is truly importanti. It’s a nice thought, and perhaps a good thing, but not indispensable. When job, family and outside activities compete for attention, quiet time tends to take a backseat.
Many see quiet time as too routine. I often hear the phrase, "When I have an urge to seek the Lord, I will, but making it a regular practice seems too ritualistic, not spontaneous enough." Jim, a close friend of mine, said to me, "I know I should have a regular quiet time, but I’ve been waiting for it to feel right to get started." Those who feel this way fail to see quiet time as a Christian discipline that forms into a habit.
My Experience
I have discovered a direct relationship between my own success and failure and my quiet time with God. I have often said to God, "I’m too busy today. I have too much to accomplish. I’ll check in later."
At the end of the day, after never having found the time, I realize what a frustrating, unfruitful and conflictive day I experienced. Without my time with God, I flounder through my day without the Spirit’s control to face life’s difficulties.
I went through one of those periods in 1996 while living in Pasadena, California, and attending Fuller Theological Seminary. "You know how pressed I am for time to turn in my course work," I argued with God. "I just don’t have time for a daily quiet time."
Soon after, I somehow managed to complete a major paper on church history and turn it in on time. When I received it back, however, it was covered with red ink from the professor. I had to completely redo it.
At this point, God clearly spoke to me. "Joel," He said, "I’m the one who will give you wisdom. Even when you’re extremely busy, seek me first and I’ll give you success."
"Okay, God," I said. "I’ll obey you. I’ll spend regular time in the midst of my busyness. Just remember that I'll have even less time to complete this next paper."
I was about to discover that tithing my time to spend with God would help me make better use of the time I had. God was faithful. I found new, better ways of writing. My papers began to come back to me with encouraging comments, even though I had not spent as much time on them.
Your experience might have nothing to do with writing papers, yet the principle remains the same: As you commit yourself to spend time with God, He will bless your life and help you make better use of your time.
I have come to believe that the most important spiritual discipline in the Christian life is maintaining a regular quiet time—a time to talk to God and allow God to speak to you; a time to read the Word and receive food for your soul.
My quiet time provides me with a chance for a daily checkup, a time to express my cares and concerns. It is where I receive plans for the future and joy that strengthens my soul. It is my opportunity to talk directly with the One who loves me, who chose me before the creation of the universe and who is as close as the air I breathe.
Daily Bread
When God provided bread from heaven (manna) for His people, the Israelites, He commanded them to gather it daily or it would spoil. A day’s worth of manna was good for only one day. We, too, need daily spiritual food to face the unique challenges that each day brings. Jesus said, "Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:34). Yesterday’s blessing and anointing won’t prepare you to face today’s cares, trials, and heartaches. You need fresh nourishment from Jesus today.
I confess that I didn’t always believe in the importance of making my quiet time a daily activity. At times when I was too busy, I’d say, "I’m too busy today, God, I’ll do extra devotions tomorrow." I didn’t realize how much I would need fresh nourishment today—as well as tomorrow.
We Love Him Because He First Loved Us
I’m constantly amazed by the sincere love my three girls offer to me. "Daddy, we just want to be with you," is their constant refrain. They don’t do it to fulfill a good work or ritual; it’s a natural desire that God has placed within them.
Spending daily quiet time is not a meritorious act to make us worthy in God’s sight. We don’t do it to prove ourselves before God or to offer Him another good work. Rather, our quiet time is a response to His love. Because Jesus loves us and has made us righteous by His blood, we desire to spend time with Him and know Him more intimately. We long to be with Him not because we have to, but because we want to.
A. W. Tozer, a spiritual leader of the twentieth century, says, "We pursue God because and only because He has first put an urge within us that spurs us to pursuit." God’s grace births a desire in us to spend time with him. We simply respond to His love and desire to enter His presence.
Ask God to make your quiet time a delight. He wants to remove the heavy burden of "checking the time clock." Although it might be difficult at first, God desires to make your quiet time the most enjoyable part of your day.
God Desires to Spend Time with His Children
Did you know that God wants to spend time with you far more than you want to spend time with Him? So often we imagine that spending time with God is a job to perform. To many, unfortunately, it’s like lifting a heavy load to the throne of grace to please an angry God.
Know that the Bible paints a different picture. We see a God who loves His children and longs to be with them. David said, "How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you" (Psalm 139:17–18).
God is thinking about you all the time. Henry Blackaby, a Baptist preacher who wrote the best-selling book Experiencing God, says, "God Himself pursues a love relationship with you. He is the One who takes the initiative to bring you into this kind of relationship. He created you for a love relationship with Himself. That is the very purpose of your lives." God longs to spend time with you more than you can imagine. In fact, God desires to spend time with you so much that even now He’s preparing your eternity, in which you’ll spend unbroken time with Him (John 14:2).
And don’t think that God wants to enjoy you only when you are strong and capable. God understands exactly where you are right now. He enjoys you in your precise stage of development. I’ve enjoyed spending time with my daughters at each stage of their lives. Chelsea, our youngest, says the cutest things and can cuddle up in a way that only a four-year-old can. I enjoy Sarah, our oldest, in a different way. We converse on subjects way over Chelsea’s head. I can best reach our middle child, Nicole, through game playing and sports.
Let God enjoy you. He chose you before the creation of the world and then called you to enter a love relationship with you. God desires to develop that love relationship with you. He desires to meet you in your daily quiet time.
Take Time to Be Holy
People often say, "Maybe next year I can spend regular time with God. Right now I’m overloaded at work." Recent studies indicate that Americans work the longest hours in the industrialized world—nearly 2000 hours per year! Between 1977 and 1997, the average workweek among salaried Americans lengthened from 43 to 47 hours. Over the same years, the number of workers putting in 50 or more hours a week jumped from 24 to 37 percent.
Scarcely a decade ago, Americans were horrified with the work habits of the Japanese. Now, according to a recent report of the International Labor Organization, the United States has slipped past Japan to become the longest-working nation in the world. The average American works eight weeks more per year than the average western European, and the same report says that Americans run a risk of burning out.
Working hard is not wrong; burning out while working hard is the problem. When we work hard without God’s joy and peace controlling our lives, we build up stress and worry that results in burnout and dysfunctional behavior.
I mentioned in the introduction how God showed me that tithing my time to spend with Him helped me make better use of the rest of my time. Spending quiet time with God will give you a supernatural peace and joy that will accompany you throughout the day. This peace and joy will allow you to work hard and increase your productivity while avoiding the accompanying burnout. As Nehemiah said: "the joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).
When you realize how desperately you need God’s fullness, you will want to take time to spend with Him each day. Realize, however, that finding that time won’t be easy. The hymn "Take Time to Be HOLY" expresses the hardest thing in spending time with God. We will most likely never find time. We will have to take it from the other demands that crowd and press on us. Paul Cedar, a well-known pastor and Christian leader, confessed:
I had been establishing appointments for every person and every event that was important in my life.. . . I realized that I rarely if ever scheduled an appointment with God. That recognition transformed my schedule and my prayer life. I began to schedule time alone with God every day. In fact, whenever I buy a new date book now, I always set my regular appointment with God first . . .
Be assured that urgent needs will crowd your schedule and spoil your initiative to spend time with God unless you plan ahead—unless you make your meeting with Him the most vital appointment of your day. The Words of Christ still ring true: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).
How to Be a Great Coach
When I started a three-year commitment with six pastors who were transitioning to cell church strategy, I figured they had hired me as a consultant—even though coaching language was used. I soon realized, however, that my consultant paradigm wasn’t sufficient.
Thinking I was primarily a consultant, I wrote an in-depth analysis of each church and then offered precise counsel. I assumed that after giving my counsel, my primary task was to make sure these pastors fulfilled it.
You can imagine how quickly these pastors tired of my dronings. When one pastor left and another two made their dissatisfaction crystal clear, I realized my consultant model had to change.
God in his sovereignty placed a key person in my life—Jeff Lodgson-- to instruct me in coaching concepts. Lodgson served me as a resource person, putting me into contact with excellent coaching material. I devoured these materials like a sponge, as truth touched my needy, desperate heart. As I listened to tapes, read books, and received Lodgson’s counsel, a whole new world opened up to me.
Coaching versus Consulting
I believe in consulting, especially when time is limited and outside expertise is needed. Yet, I also see two dangers:
Danger #1: Creating dependency. The leader is forced to depend on the expert and often can never breakaway from that dependency.
Danger #2: Information overload that doesn’t practically work in the long run. Information/knowledge is necessary to successfully transition a church to cell-based ministry. It’s equally important for a leader to successfully lead and multiply the cell group.
The major obstacle, however, is practically applying the information over the long haul. It’s easy to say, “I got it” after a seminar or a sudden burst of enthusiasm, but it’s a lot harder to apply that knowledge in day to day ministry.
A great coach, on the other hand, listens and encourages the leader to become successful over the long haul. A great coach comes alongside the leader in order to fulfill the leader’s agenda, knowing that ministry is a process rather than a one-time event. The coach equips the leader with tools, knowledge, and opportunities to become more effective.
How to Coach
Many people say to me, “Joel, I’ve heard you talk about the coaching structure (e.g., G12.3, Jethro, etc.), but I don’t know how to coach. What should I actually do when I’m coaching?” I recommend the following sequence:
Listen to the leader
Celebrate with the leader
Care for the leader
Develop/ train the leader
Strategize with the leader
Challenge the leader
I tell people to follow the above order when coaching leaders. I’m convinced, in fact, that the above order is the best coaching formula. You’ll notice this list is specific enough to give coaches clear direction, yet general enough to grant flexibility. [i]
Group Coaching? One on One?
Some have likened coaching to conducting an orchestra--sometimes you work one-on-one, other times you direct the person from afar, and on some occasions you cut people loose so they can develop in areas completely outside your scope.
There are a variety of ways to deliver coaching. I prefer a mixture of one-on-one and group coaching. If you follow the principles of coaching (e.g., listening, celebrating, caring, etc.), you can coach by telephone, in person, in a group situation or through the Internet. The principles are the same, although the exact circumstances will vary.
My two previous books, Groups of Twelve (Touch Publication, 1999) and From Twelve to Three (Touch Publication, 2002) explain the practical coaching details, such as structure, material, etc.
My new book on coaching (due out in March 2003 from Touch Publications) will unpack the above coaching order (principles) in a very practical way. Although the book will be directed to helping cell leaders (and future cell leaders) coach more effectively, anyone will be able to apply the principles and become a more effective coach.
THE 4 DEADLY SINS OF CELL LEADERSHIP
How to Avoid them and enjoy a fruitful, effective cell ministry
When it came right down to it, I was pressured to perform. I had to get to know my neighbors, build community in my neighborhood, and help grow our new cell church plant in Moreno Valley.
On a positive note, the pressure drove me to attend association barbeques and hang out at the Monday night football gatherings at the clubhouse. But I knew it wasn’t a healthy way to build my church.
Although I had been feeling this pressure for months, I kept it to myself. One night, I confessed the pressure to perform at my cell meeting. “I feel so pressured to reach my neighbors,” I told the group. I received prayer, but couldn’t pinpoint the source of the problem and I still felt like I was going about my ministry in an unnatural, unhealthy way.
After the meeting I talked with my wife and realized I was feeling pressured to perform by placing all the responsibility on my own shoulders. I was assuming responsibility that only God could take!
Yes, God is intensely concerned with reaching my neighbors and building a cell church in Moreno Valley. However, I figured that I had to make it happen. The result was a vague sense of tension that turned into pressure — which began to eat at me.
God showed me that He desires to give me His light yoke in exchange for my heavy yoke. When I realized this, the burden lifted. Through this experience, God revealed four deadly sins that could easily wipe out your ministry as a cell leader.
#1 ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY THAT IS NOT YOURS
I was making unrealistic goals that were vague and unattainable. God reminded me of Larry Crabb’s comments in The Key to Caring about the difference between a goal and a desire. Crabb said:
“A goal may be defined as a purpose to which a person is unalterably committed. He assumes unconditional responsibility for a goal, and it can be achieved if he is willing to work at it. A desire may be defined as something wanted that cannot be obtained without the cooperation of another person. It is an objective for which a person can assume no responsibility, because it is beyond his control. Reaching a desire must never become the motivating purpose behind behavior, because then a person is assuming responsibility for something he cannot fulfill on his own” [italics my own].
It dawned on me that I was confusing desires with goals — that which I could accomplish and that which was beyond my control.
My desire was to see conversions in my neighborhood and to create a sense of community. Of course, this is a wonderful desire. But you’ll notice that only God can make this happen. I was trying to take the place of God.
I now realize that God wants me to make clear-cut, bite-sized goals that are in my power to accomplish. For example, I can accomplish the following goals:
■ Invite my neighbor to play tennis.
■ Invite my neighbor over to my house for a special event (dessert, etc.).
■ Make it a point to talk with my neighbor in the front yard.
■ Encourage my potential cell leader to begin the training track.
■ Give my potential cell leader opportunities in the cell to use his gifts and talents.
These goals are feasible. I can accomplish them. Desires, on the other hand, are beyond my own ability to accomplish. Here are some examples of my desires:
■ That my neighbor responds to my invitation and actually plays tennis with me.
■ That my neighbor accepts the invitation to come to my house for a special event.
■ That the person I’ve identified as a potential cell leader actually enters our leadership training track.
To make this difference practical, let’s take a typical concern for cell leaders: Group multiplication.
Many leaders experience tension when thinking about this topic. A major cause of this tension is making unrealistic, vague goals based on lofty desires, rather than bite-size, feasible goals based on what can actually be done. The following goals are obtainable and will lead to the goal of multiplication:
■ Talk to a cell member about facilitating the next cell group meeting.
■ Guide this potential cell leader through your church’s training.
■ Set a multiplication date and continually remind the group of that date.
■ Give the future cell leader ample opportunities within the cell to participate in ministry to others and facilitate meetings.
■ Remind the group weekly of their need to evangelize and invite non- Christian friends.
As you can see, your goals should be feasible and measurable. They should be based on clear possibilities in which you have control.
Confusing desires with goals, while subtle, makes a huge difference in your emotional well-being. When you’re pressured to perform — to fulfill the goal yourself — your peace disappears and you feel stressed, knowing you’re not going to succeed.
Sadly, many cell leaders simply turn in their resignation at this point, never citing the real reason. They don’t know why they feel the way they do. I suspect confusing desires with goals is the culprit on many occasions, leading to burn-out. Don’t get caught in this trap.
#2 DO ALL THE WORK
“I’m the cell leader. I need to do all the work.” Wrong.
The cell leader is the facilitator, not the work horse. You are the person who orchestrates the work for the whole group to carry out.
Remember the concept of net fishing versus pole fishing? It’s the team that does the work. Everyone participates!
There’s too much work for one leader to do alone. Consider the pressures that a cell leader places upon himself when he embraces the statement “I need to do all the work.”
■ Prepare and facilitate all the various parts of the weekly meetings, making it look very polished and professional.
■ Personally reach your lost friends (and your member’s lost friends) for Christ.
■ Meet with everyone in the group as often as possible to mentor and disciple them into strong believers.
■ Train an intern or apprentice by having them watch what you do so that when he gets his own group, he’ll know what to do.
Instead of doing everything yourself — which will never create a feeling of community or new leaders — involve the team! Ask others to help you in every aspect of cell life and leadership:
■ Delegate all the various parts of your weekly meetings to others a month at a time and watch them learn as they do it. Ask someone in the group to be in charge of meeting refreshments, prayer, worship, and the ministry time.
■ Ask each host family to keep the “Blessing List” poster and display it in the room where you’ll be meeting. Every host can also be given the responsibility to plan and hold one fun event in the next three months to connect their unbelieving friends to the group.
■ Establish mentor-protégé relationships in your group (or accountability partnerships) and call them to see how they are doing. These relationship will be very fruitful if they have a difficult task to complete together, like your church’s discipleship or equipping track.
■ Meet with your intern or apprentice every week and together decide what the next steps are for your group. Then, let him or her learn by first-hand experience by leading the cell into one-another ministry and outreach, as well as facilitating weekly meetings. This will reduce your workload and give new leaders a vision for the future.
By involving others and forcing yourself to give away responsibility, the group will become an exciting place of ministry and growth. And you will not feel like Atlas, with the weight of the world on your shoulders.
#3 THINKING THAT EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON YOU
I forgot that only God can bring conviction and create open doors for the Gospel. The key question we should be asking ourselves is: “Where is God working?”
I discovered this with my neighbors. I was concentrating on my next door neighbor because they’re immediately visible when I open my own front door. But God showed me that I needed to broaden my perspective to include those at the other end of the street who were far more receptive. With this new thinking, I was able to establish contacts quickly because God opened the doors.
The Psalmist wrote, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain” (Psalm 127:1). Pursue those non-Christian contacts in which you see God working.
Paul the apostle said, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).
Only God can convert a soul, motivate someone to enter leadership training, or multiply his or her cell group.
Effective leaders don’t take responsibility for making it happen because this would only result in pressure to perform and succeed without God’s power. But, the same leaders do take practical steps to plant and water, leaving the rest to God. And, they take responsibility to make sure there are enough positive concrete actions (goals) that eventually result in a breakthrough.
So, plan to work with your team and sow into relationships with the lost, sharing the Gospel whenever possible. Then water the soil by praying and fasting, loving these folks unconditionally. God will send His Spirit to them and draw them to Himself. Watch and see how God works when you do your part and you allow Him to do His part.
#4 GIVING UP WHEN THE RESULTS ARE FEW
Effective leaders are not necessarily talented, gifted, or outgoing. But they do have one thing in common. They’re persistent. They don’t give up!
Each week they ask their members to invite someone. Each week they try to make contact with members of the cell by phone and whenever possible, in person. Eventually, something clicks. God works.
You could compare what I’m saying to sowing and reaping. If you sow sparingly, you’ll reap sparingly. If you sow bountifully, you’ll reap bountifully.
For example, let’s discuss the Blessing List (the list of non-Christian people attached to each member of your group). It’s tempting to give up when we don’t see our prayers answered quickly. We should remember that George Mueller, a man who modeled effective prayer, prayed throughout his lifetime for five friends to know Jesus Christ.
The first one came to Christ after five years. Within ten years, two more of them received Christ. Mueller prayed constantly for over twenty-five years, and the fourth man was finally saved. For his fifth friend, he prayed until the time of his death, and this friend, too, came to Christ a few months after Mueller died. For this last friend, Mueller had prayed for almost fifty-two years.
God doesn’t view time in the same way we do. He hears every prayer you make, and He desires that you persist until the end. At times you’ll want to give up. Don’t. God is hearing your prayers and is pleased with them. In His time the answer will come — quickly.
Keep on encouraging your cell members to reach out and invite people, even when you see few results. Remember the Scripture Proverbs 14:23: “All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.” Your diligence will lead to success if you keep on pressing on. God’s blessing is right around the corner.
CONCLUSION
To continue to lead a group, multiply that group, and care for the new leaders as a coach, you need Christ’s light and easy yoke (Matthew 11:30 ). Avoid the common cell leader sins that will damage or even kill your ministry. Make feasible goals; use your team; discover where God’s working, and persist until you see breakthroughs. With this kind of ministry, you will be able to avoid burnout and continue a fruitful cell ministry throughout your life.
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: THE ESSENCE OF THE CELL CHURCH
As I was chatting with Vern, one of the pastors I’m coaching, he asked, “Joel, in a nutshell, what is the essence of the cell church? What is the key message that I’m supposed to communicate with my people? How do I describe cell church in a clear, succinct way?”
I fumbled around a bit, looking deep within for the answer. What surfaced was a long-term, yet sometimes forgotten, conviction. I told him that I believed the cell church was primarily a leadership strategy. I told him that the essence or the key principle of the cell church was the development, training, and deployment of leaders (or you might call them facilitators or guides).
I believe, in fact, that cells are just the vehicle to allow a potential leader to emerge, develop, and eventually lead. Cells are leader breeders, and ultimately should focus on mobilizing the laity to do the work of the ministry.
It’s easy to get bogged down in the details: cell systems, definitions, the statistics, coaching, etc. Yet, we must focus on the big picture: converting pew sitters into harvest workers. The rallying cry of the cell church is found in Matthew 9:35-38; 10:1:
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil a spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.
The need was too great for Christ alone. He knew that only way to get the job done was to raise up more laborers. He then practiced what he preached by calling his twelve disciples to help him in the harvest.
Churches do not reap the harvest because they have small groups. They reap the harvest because they have harvest workers. Churches that have no plan to develop people have by default planned to lose the harvest.
“The growth of the cell movement is based on raising up leaders from within. The highest priority of the cell leader is to identify prospective interns and begin the mentoring process.”[i] With this quote, Gwynn Lewis pinpoints the essence of the cell church. Cell leaders are not primarily called to form and sustain cell groups; their primary job is to find, train, and release new leadership.[ii] Jim Egli expands on this same point: “The cell model is not a small-group strategy; it is a leadership strategy. The focus is not to start home groups but to equip an expanding number of caring leaders. If you succeed at this, your church will flourish.”[iii]
The best forum for leadership emergence and development is the cell, where everyone is able to exercise spiritual gifts and influence others. Such development simply doesn’t happen in a large celebration context. Nor does it effectively take place in choir groups, usher groups, Sunday School classes, or board meetings. Potential cell leaders are best developed in groups that emphasize evangelism, discipleship, and multiplication. Thus a cell should be:
"A group of 4-15 people that meets weekly outside the church building for the purpose of evangelism and discipleship with the goal of multiplication.”
I cling so tenaciously to a clear definition of a cell because leadership development takes place when the developing leader learns how to evangelize, disciple, raise up a new leader, penetrate the society and participate in regular group meetings. I emphasize the need for cells to meet weekly, outside the church building, evangelize, disciple, and multiply. Just remember that beyond the “correct definition” is the purpose: develop leaders who reap the harvest!!
I have discovered one flaw to the theme that leadership multiplication is the key essence of the cell church. Andrew Harper , an Australian pastor, cautioned me on this point, and I immediately knew he was right. Here’s the caution: We must make sure our future leaders are developed to evangelistically penetrate their communities and oikos. In other words, it’s possible for cell leaders to fill their cells with people from the Sunday celebration and then to multiply their cells with those same people and never have to reach the lost world around them.
To avoid this, we must encourage our leaders to get their core people from the Sunday celebration (perhaps 7 people) but to then mobilize that core to continually exercise their “outreach muscles.”
Cell church is all about how to do raise up leaders for the harvest. If you measure your success by this standard, you’ll develop disciples into harvest workers who will reach a lost and dying world for Jesus Christ.
For a more detailed understanding of this subject, please see my book Leadership Explosion (Touch Publications, 2000).
[i] Gwynn Lewis, “Time Bombs that Kill a Cell,” Cell Church magazine, Summer, 1995, p. 10.
[ii] Cell Leader Intern Guidebook (Houston, TX: Touch Publications, Inc., 1995), p. 101.
Testimony of Transformation through Cell Ministry
(FromCell Members to Cell Leaders)
"I robbed thousands of dollars from my company and they still don't know it," Nancy began [not her real name]. "My boss placed her confidence in me, and I deceived her." Nancy, a brand new Christian, confessed this to our cell group one night. "I know I must now go to them and confess what I did. I'm willing to go to jail, if necessary. Yet, I know that even in jail, Jesus Christ will be with me." She asked us to pray for her, knowing that the next day, she would confront her owners. We bore her burden, prayed for her that night, and dedicated ourselves to pray for her the next day.
She asked me to accompany her for moral support. As I sat and listened to Nancy confession the next day in front of the owners, my eyes filled with tears. "I stole money from you [$60,000.00] , and now that I'm a believer I need to right this wrong. I'm willing to go to jail," she said.
It's now been one year since Nancy confessed her sin. She faithfully attended our cell group, completed the nine-month training at the Republic Church (which includes baptism), and began leading her own cell group. She also found a job and is paying back her dept. Nancy is on fire for Jesus Christ. She wrote me the following testimony:
Opening my group was a key point in having complete communion with God. The greatest blessing has been to see how God can touch the hearts of my friends in the depths of their hearts. Every word that I speak in my cell group is a gift of God. My friends have their problems, dreams, and desires and I feel very privileged to be able to pray for them. Now I feel that God is in control of my life, and my life is so much better. I have a real joy, a happiness like none other, and an extreme confidence that God is with me and that every day is a new one. At times I can't control my tears. I now feel like a useful person for my God and also for society. I've found in God the true strength in order to understand what He has done in my life. I now realize that I'm worth a lot because God rescued me and taught me how to obey Him. Yes, I committed a sin [thievery], but thanks to Christ, I could confess it, and this was very important. Today, I'm a new creature, free from my bondages, in order to give my life to the one who saved me. My Lord overcame and destroyed my chains. At the same time, I desire to pay back my dept. Today, I don't have fear, because God is all powerful and the devil can only tempt me with the authority of my Father, and in this way I can overcome every temptation for my God.
The Coach's Role in Breaking Growth Barriers
My family loves the movie Remember the Titans. Based on a true story about racial tensions, desegregation, and unexpected friendship, this movie focuses on one thing—Coach Boone’s strategy. Coach Boone, played by Denzel Washington, is an African-American football coach who must develop more than a strategy for winning on the field—he must turn a white team and a black team into one team.
While racial prejudice and disunity is the number one barrier Coach Boone has to overcome, It is my conviction that multiplication is the number one barrier in small group ministry. Many resist multiplication because they associate it with the numbers game or statistics. The reality is that multiplication is a health issue. Christian Schwarz crunched 4.2 million pieces of data from 1000 churches in 32 countries, and found eight quality characteristics true of all growing churches. He concluded, “If we were to identify any one principle as the most important, without a doubt it would be the multiplication of small groups.” Talking about multiplication, he says, “Virtually no other aspect of church life has such an enormous influence on both the quality index and the growth of a church.”
The failure to multiply slowly causes small group health issues, including the fatal disease called koinonitus. In this article, I’ll focus on the coach’s role in helping the small group to multiply.
Helping the Leader Catch a Barrier-breaking Vision
Before a leader can multiply, he or she must first develop an image of the future state of the small group—in a condition that is better than the current one. Eric Johnson writes, “Many groups fade or resolve to become just a social group due to the lack of a clear vision.”
The coach plays a critical role in encouraging the leader to fulfill Christ’s vision to reach a lost world (Matthew 28:18-20). The coach graciously reminds the leader that small group multiplication best fulfills Christ’s command to make disciples. A coach might say, “George, who are you preparing to lead the next group?” or “Have you told the group about the greater purpose of small group multiplication?”
Coach’s Role in Birthing
• Cast vision
• Provide affirmation for the leader and his or her apprentice
• Participate in the process (attend meetings leading up to the birth of the new group)
• Follow-up (be in constant contact with the leader throughout the process)
• Administration (provide resources and training for the leader )
Helping the Leader Delegate
The coach should not allow the small group leader to fall into the trap of doing all the work. Small group leaders are facilitators, not work horses. Small group leaders should orchestrate the work for the whole group to carry out.
If the leader refuses to delegate, the coach should remind him or her of the difference between net fishing and pole fishing. Net fishing is much more productive, and the team does the work together. Everyone participates. There is too much work for one leader to do alone.
A coach should encourage small group leaders to:
• Delegate the various parts of the weekly meetings to others one month at a time and watch them learn as they do it. Ask someone in the group to be in charge of refreshments, prayer, worship, and the ministry time.
• Establish mentor-protégé relationships in the group (or accountability partnerships) and supervise them.
• Meet with interns or apprentices every week and decide together what the next steps are for the group. Then, let the interns gain first-hand experience by leading the small groups. This will reduce leader workload and give new leaders a vision for the future.
Set a Date for Multiplication
A coach and a small group leader should dream together about a concrete date to multiply the small group. The date should be far enough away to ensure the health of both the mother and the daughter small groups, but close enough to ensure urgency. Small group leaders discuss the goal to multiply with small group members. Because reproduction involves all of the group members, and one or two will even be leading the new group, it is important to be forthright and open. The goal of multiplication starts with the small group members.
How Long Does it Take to Multiply a Group?
• One year is normal. However, this differs from country to country, depending on the soil (receptivity/resistance of the people)
• In Latin American countries, the average is 9 months and in some cities (like Bogota, home of ICM church) multiplication takes only six months
• In Europe it takes longer to multiply, sometimes as long as 24 months.
Setting a multiplication date helps guide all the various elements of the small group into a unified purpose. Without a date, there is no preparation. A mother giving birth knows the approximate time for her delivery. She prepares her entire world for the birth of that child—the house, her habits, the future. The birth date fills the mother’s schedule and dominates her activities. Everything flows from it.
Finding an Apprentice
One of the most important details is finding an apprentice. A coach should work with the leader to identify a potential apprentice who possesses a hunger for God and a faithfulness to attend and participate in the small group. Small group leaders often do not know what to look for in an apprentice. They try to discover talent, gifting, or personality. Some even continue to focus on physical, outward characteristics. This is where the more experienced coach can provide help in discerning spiritual values.Then the coach should help the leader approach and develop the apprentice.
Tips on releasing new leaders
• Cast the vision from the first day
• Remind and review the vision regularly
• Pray about whom to release and when
• Rotate leadership weekly
• Focus on balance and multiplication will come
• Watch terminology (split, divide, break)
Discussing How to Give Birth
One important meeting should focus on how the group will give birth. Once the coach and leader feel like the apprentice is fully prepared, they should look at multiplication options:
• Mother-daughter Multiplication—Half the group goes out under the leadership of the apprentice, or the current small group leader takes the daughter small group, leaving the original small group with the apprentice.
• Group Planting Team—Two people go out to plant a new small group.
• Modified Planting Approach—The current small group leader goes out with one or two others.
• Solo Approach—An apprentice leaves to find an assistant to start a small group.
• Cluster Model—The new, potential group meets in another room of the house while preparing to leave the mother small group.
Common Multiplication Mistakes
• Assigning people to a group
• Multiplying before the apprentice leader is ready
• Breaking up close relationships
• Low growth intention/momentum in new groups
Pass the Baton
At the end of his life, Paul exhorted his own disciple, Timothy, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). Leadership development must continue. A small group leader’s main task, therefore, should be to develop small group members to lead small groups. By doing this, disciple-making leaders gain authority, new leadership, and small group multiplication. And they eventually become small group coaches! By concentrating on leadership development, coaches help leaders break growth barriers and multiply their ministry over and over and over.
HOW TO ENCOURAGE CELL LEADERS
My wife and I coached one married couple that was really struggling. Their cell group started strong with ten people coming regularly, but gradually attendance dropped off until they were the only people present on the night of the meeting. This couple did all the right things that work in building successful groups—they prayed, they invited people, they regularly contacted the people who had attended, but they couldn’t reverse the trend.
After about three weeks with no one showing up, Patty called me saying, "Joel, my husband and I are ready to throw in the towel. This is just not working. We must not be the right leaders." I countered, "You’re excellent leaders! God is in this. He’s called you. I really believe in you and your ministry. The enemy wants to discourage you, but Jesus wants you to persevere and keep praying until that breakthrough comes."
Several weeks later, attendance picked up again, the fellowship began to gel, and people loved belonging to their cell group. Over the years, many people have been saved through their cell, new leaders have been raised up, and the cell group has multiplied on several occasions.
Patty has stated repeatedly that the conversation we had on the phone that night was a turning point in their cell ministry. The devil wanted Patty and her husband to give up at that early point, rendering them useless and ineffective for God’s kingdom and preventing them from the ministry successes they have experienced.
Cell leadership can be a wearisome journey. It’s not for the faint-hearted. The fact is that members often don’t show up, evangelism fails, babies get sick, events fill the calendar, and bosses require extra hours. Cell leadership involves making phone calls, developing new leaders, evangelism, and administration. In the face of so many tasks and problems, how are you supposed to keep the cell leader alive, well, and ready to follow God?
The answer is encouragement. A coach who encourages can make the difference between success and failure, between the leader continuing—and eventually multiplying the cell—and throwing in the towel. This ministry of encouragement takes on additional importance because it has the potential to have long-term, widespread impact on many people, not just on an individual cell group leader.
"Find the one thing that you believe is the potential leader’s greatest asset, and then give 100 percent encouragement in that area" (John Maxwell).
Praise Is Like Oxygen to the Soul
UCLA basketball coach John Wooden told players who scored to smile, wink, or nod to the player who passed them the ball. "What if he’s not looking?" asked a team member. Wooden replied, "I guarantee he’ll look." Everyone values encouragement and looks for it.
Although every coach wants to win the game, a good coach knows that refreshed and energized players do a much better job.
How to Encourage Cell Leaders
· Highlight accomplishments
o Compliment them in front of the group
o Catch people doing something right and tell them
· Express confidence
o Verbally: "You can do it!"
o Acted out: by the way you let them lead and achieve
· Show you care about the leaders personally
o Know what is going on in their lives
o Be there when they have a tough time
The writer to the Hebrews says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). Discouragement comes naturally to everyone. Introspection haunts people; they compare themselves to others and feel like they don’t measure up. A word of encouragement can often make a huge difference.
The wife of one of the leaders I’m coaching told me privately that her husband easily becomes introspective and discouraged without compliments. "Encouragement is his love language," she told me. "Right now he’s receiving very little of it." "But he’s doing so well in cell ministry," I thought to myself. I realized afresh that even the most successful leaders need lots of encouragement.
Most managers in the business world think that the lack of encouragement will motivate people to work harder. A marketing executive at a large consumer foods company noticed the great work of one of his regional directors. When asked if he had told the director that he was pleased with her progress, the executive responded, "No, she’s just rounding first base at this point. I wouldn’t want her to think she was almost home." The director was craving support and even a hint that her efforts were making a difference. But the executive believed that a pat on the back would cause her to slack off. In fact, a good cheering section would have let her know she was heading in the right direction and encouraged her to keep running.
A cell group coach should be the head cheerleader for his or her cell group leaders. Cell leaders who are supported and encouraged will serve above and beyond the call of duty. Those who wonder if they are appreciated or even noticed will eventually run out of steam.
There is always something to encourage. Are the cell leaders improving? Celebrate any progress, even if it seems small. Winning is important, but winning results from doing one’s best. Success should be rewarded.
Inspirational Coaching
The quarterback was playing a miserable game. He made it even worse by throwing an interception. At halftime, the coach came up to him and the quarterback thought, "That’s it. He’s taking me out." Instead, the coach said, "Don’t worry son, you’re still going to be the hero of this game." With renewed energy, the quarterback played a brilliant second half and threw the winning touchdown. During the post-game interview, the quarterback shared this story, giving all the credit to the coach’s encouragement.
Begin Meetings with Encouragement
I recommend that coaches start one-on-one sessions and group huddles with encouragement. Leaders are much more likely to share honestly if they know that they are on the right track. Begin with something positive you heard about a leader. Share how you see people changing.
Leaders have the tendency to second-guess themselves, to feel like they just don’t measure up. Many leaders magnify one or two weaknesses way out of proportion, until they feel condemned and depressed. Martin Luther, one of the greatest leaders of all time, was subject to such fits of darkness and despair that he would closet himself for days. In the meantime his family would remove all dangerous implements from the house. C.H. Spurgeon, one of the greatest preachers in world, told his 5000 member congregation in 1866, "I am the subject of depression of spirit so fearful that I hope none of you ever gets to such extremes of wretchedness as I to go." If great heroes of the faith have felt this way, how much more will cell group leaders?
The enemy of the soul seeks to accuse leaders and deplete their energy through lies that discourage. He whispers things like, "No one respects your leadership," and, "You can’t lead tomorrow’s lesson. You don’t know the Bible well enough." Satan knows that if he can discourage the leader, he can discourage the entire cell group.
"Encouragement is the most important part of coaching because cell leadership is a thankless job—especially if there are some high need people in the group. I believe the number one reason why cell leaders quit stems from lack of encouragement. Most new cell leaders start on a fairly high level of motivation. Over a period of time, the level drops and if left unchecked, the leader soon gets ‘discouraged’ and then ‘disillusioned’ and then ‘despair or dejection’ sets in, and finally comes the ‘resignation.’"—An Australian Cell Group Coach
Discouragement also comes from the world in which leaders live in everyday. For the most part, North Americans are under the constant barrage of guilt from not feeling like they’ve done enough. Edward Stewart, an expert on anthropology, referring to the average North American, said, "Restless and uncertain, he has recurrent need to prove himself and thereby attain an identity and success through his achievements." The French writer and researcher, Alexis de Tocqueville, said something similar:
In America I have seen the freest and best educated of men in circumstances the happiest to be found in the world; yet it seemed to me that a cloud habitually hung on their brow, and they seemed serious and almost sad even in their pleasures because they never stop thinking of the good things they have not got.. . so the efforts and enjoyments of Americans are livelier than in traditional societies, but the disappointments of their hopes and desires are keener, and their minds are more anxious and on edge."
The Bible Commands Encouragement
The New American Standard version translates 1 Thessalonians 5:12, "…appreciate those who diligently labor among you…" The Greek word literally means "to perceive" or "to know" those who labor. Recognition means acknowledging the diligent labors of your cell leaders, giving credit where credit is due. The purpose of recognition is to honor and affirm the leaders’ ministries. It’s akin to a "payment" for well-rendered service.
Encouragement through Listening
Listening opens the door for encouragement. Tune your ears for the slightest reason to give praise. If there’s even a hint of excellence, spot it and acknowledge it.
When one of your leaders starts talking about the lack of fruit, the discouragement, the difficulties, you need to listen first. Sympathize with the leader. Remind him of what God has already done. Perhaps you can remind him of his personal growth through cell group leadership.
Write an Encouraging Letter
One thing you can do to encourage your leader is to write a note of encouragement. Kent Hughes writes, "Some years ago I read that Phillips Brooks kept a file of encouraging notes and letters for rainy days and during such times would pull them out and reread them again. So I began my own file. I keep every encouraging letter I receive, and there are occasions that I read them again. But, even more, I began to write many more encouraging notes to others, especially to my colleagues in the ministry."
Find the little things and highlight them. You might pinpoint a leader’s honesty, transparency, or hard work. Point out whatever you see that is positive and honors God. Turn the little things into huge victories.
Encourage Your Leader to Persist
As I give cell seminars around the world, one particular session has emerged as a clear favorite—the session on diligence. I highlight the numerous occasions that the Greek word spoude (diligence) is used in the Bible (e.g., 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Peter 3:12-14, Hebrews 4: 10,11, etc.). I get everyone in the seminar to repeat the word spoude over and over again, and we have a great time. After one seminar in Hong Kong, the participants even made t-shirts with spoude on the front to remind each other to keep pressing on.
Why is this session on spoude so well-received? Because it encourages cell leaders to focus not on those areas beyond their control (e.g., talent, giftedness, education, or personality) but to focus instead on hard work, which anyone can do. Proverbs 14:23: "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." Seminar participants are reminded that persistence and diligence will eventually bring results. Spoude!
Strategies backfire and teams lose. Period. Not every game is a smashing success.
The best cell leaders keep on inviting, they keep on making contact, they keep on sowing, and then they eventually reap. When coaches encourage their leaders to practice spoude and keep on practicing it, the doors will open.
Discovering Gold Nuggets
"Sometimes the only way we can see our talents objectively is through the eyes of others."
A strong leader knows how to pick himself up and press on—in spite of the obstacles. And a good coach reminds his leaders that it’s a marathon race. For example:
· Abraham Lincoln failed twice as a businessperson and was defeated in six state and national elections before being elected president of the United States.
· Babe Ruth struck out 1,330 times. In between his strikeouts, he hit 714 home runs.
· Theodor S. Geisel’s (Dr. Seuss) first children’s book was rejected by 23 publishers. The twenty-fourth publisher sold six million copies.
· George Mueller prayed throughout his lifetime for five friends to know Jesus Christ. The first one came to Christ after five years. Within ten years, two more of them received Christ. Mueller prayed constantly for over twenty-five years, and the fourth man was finally saved. For his fifth friend, he prayed until the time of his death, and this friend, too, came to Christ a few months after Mueller died. For this last friend, Mueller had prayed for almost fifty-two years.
John Maxwell on What Leaders Need
All people, whether leaders or followers, have some things in common:
· They like to feel special, so sincerely compliment them
· They want a better tomorrow, so show them hope
· They desire direction, so navigate for them
· They are selfish, so speak to their needs first
· They get low emotionally, so encourage them
· They want success, so help them win
The best cell leaders don’t give up—even when the odds are against them and success looks slim. They find a way, even when they have to build their own roads. Your encouragement, coach, can keep them pressing forward.
"‘In my wide association in life, meeting with many and great people in various parts of the world,’ Schwab declared, ‘I have yet to find the person, however great or exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than he would ever do under a spirit of criticism.’"
Coach Barnabas
There was a reason why the apostles gave the name Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement) to Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus (Acts 4:36). Barnabas lived up to the apostles’ expectations by sponsoring Saul to the disciples in Jerusalem, when they were all deathly afraid of him (Acts 9:26-27). Then the apostles sent Barnabas to a new, dynamic church in Antioch. Scripture says, "When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts"(Acts 11:23). His zeal for their encouragement led him to ask the apostle Paul to join him in the work of encouraging the church in Antioch.
Follow coach Barnabas and become a child of encouragement. Don’t fear over-encouraging, thinking that you might puff up your leaders too much. Encourage, encourage, encourage, and the leaders under your care will blossom.
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